The worrying future of the endemic flora of a tropical mountain range under climate change

Flora ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 218 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cássia Bitencourt ◽  
Alessandro Rapini ◽  
Leilton Santos Damascena ◽  
Paulo De Marco Junior
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
Tropical Mountain ◽  
Endemic Flora

scholarly journals Elevational distribution ranges of vascular plant species in the Baekdudaegan mountain range, South Korea

2021 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sookyung Shin ◽  
Jung-Hyun Kim ◽  
Ji-Hee Dang ◽  
In-Soon Seo ◽  
Byoung Yoon Lee
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
National Parks ◽  
Vascular Plants ◽  
Distribution Range ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
Subalpine Zone ◽  
Distribution Ranges ◽  
Elevational Distribution

AbstractThe climate is changing rapidly, and this may pose a major threat to global biodiversity. One of the most distinctive consequences of climate change is the poleward and/or upward shift of species distribution ranges associated with increasing temperatures, resulting in a change of species composition and community structure in the forest ecosystems. The Baekdudaegan mountain range connects most forests from the lowland to the subalpine zone in South Korea and is therefore recognized as one of the most important biodiversity hotspots. This study was conducted to understand the distribution range of vascular plants along elevational gradients through field surveys in the six national parks of the Baekdudaegan mountain range. We identified the upper and lower distribution limits of a total of 873 taxa of vascular plants with 117 families, 418 genera, 793 species, 14 subspecies, 62 varieties, two forms, and two hybrids. A total of 12 conifers were recorded along the elevational gradient. The distribution ranges of Abies koreana, Picea jezoensis, Pinus pumila, and Thuja koraiensis were limited to over 1000 m above sea level. We also identified 21 broad-leaved trees in the subalpine zone. A total of 45 Korean endemic plant species were observed, and of these, 15 taxa (including Aconitum chiisanense and Hanabusaya asiatica) showed a narrow distribution range in the subalpine zone. Our study provides valuable information on the current elevational distribution ranges of vascular plants in the six national parks of South Korea, which could serve as a baseline for vertical shifts under future climate change.

Linking global climate change to local water availability: Limitations and prospects for a tropical mountain watershed

2019 ◽  
Vol 650 ◽  
pp. 2577-2586 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. González-Zeas ◽  
B. Erazo ◽  
P. Lloret ◽  
B. De Bièvre ◽  
S. Steinschneider ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Water Availability ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Mountain Watershed ◽  
Tropical Mountain ◽  
Local Water

Amazing Glacier Stuff

Glaciers ◽  
2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Daniel Taillant
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Rocky Mountains ◽  
Central Andes ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
Outburst Floods ◽  
The World ◽  
Industrial Use ◽  
Mitigating Circumstances ◽  
Story Building ◽  
At Home

This chapter is about what glaciers—and particularly what glacial and periglacial melt—mean to people and communities around the world. We often don’t realize that people interact daily with glaciers. Some go to visit and hike on glaciers or to photograph them for their magnificent beauty. Some ski on glaciers. Others extract water from glaciers for personal and industrial use. Others fear glaciers for their potent fury and destruction. People and communities are adapting to climate change and its impacts on glaciers, sometimes without even knowing it. Others are very aware of glacier vulnerability and are taking measures to address the changing cryosphere. They are mitigating circumstances and are adapting to impacts. In this chapter, we share stories and facts about glaciers and periglacial environments, which most people are probably unfamiliar with, and we explain how lives in these environments are changing due to climate change. Few people have heard of glacier tsunamis, but they exist, they’re real, they’re ferocious, and they can kill. Scientists call them glacier lake outburst floods (GLOFs). And as climate change deepens, more and more GLOF phenomena can be expected. Imagine you live at the foot of a mountain range like the Rocky Mountains, the Himalayas, or the Central Andes. On a nice sunny day, you can see the snow-capped mountains in the distance, maybe 20 or 30 km (12–18 mi) out, maybe even more. You are sitting at home when all of a sudden you feel shaking and hear a rumble. People start screaming. You look out the window and see people running frantically and erratically about. Then a woman yells, “The mountain! It’s coming! Run!” Imagine a large glacier the size of a dozen or so city blocks, perched atop a mountain. It’s 180 meters thick (600 ft), which is as tall as a sixty-story building. Below it, time and climate have formed a lake, a glacier lake occupying the same spot where the glacier once rested, pushing rock and earth out and forward as the glacier flowed downhill when it was solidly frozen and healthy.

scholarly journals Deep and wide valleys drive nested phylogeographic patterns across a montane bird community

2015 ◽  
Vol 282 (1810) ◽  
pp. 20150861 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. V. Robin ◽  
C. K. Vishnudas ◽  
Pooja Gupta ◽  
Uma Ramakrishnan
Keyword(s):  
Bird Community ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
Climatic Fluctuations ◽  
Tropical Mountain ◽  
Palghat Gap ◽  
Spatial Concordance ◽  
Species Evolution ◽  
The Western Ghats ◽  
Range Fragmentation

Montane species distributions interrupted by valleys can lead to range fragmentation, differentiation and ultimately speciation. Paleoclimatic fluctuations may accentuate or reduce such diversification by temporally altering the extent of montane habitat and may affect species differentially. We examined how an entire montane bird community of the Western Ghats—a linear, coastal tropical mountain range—responds to topographic valleys that host different habitats. Using genetic data from 23 species (356 individuals) collected across nine locations, we examined if different species in the community reveal spatial concordance in population differentiation, and whether the timing of these divergences correlate with climatic events. Our results reveal a nested effect of valleys, with several species (10 of 23) demonstrating the oldest divergences associated with the widest and deepest valley in the mountain range, the Palghat Gap. Further, a subset of these 10 species revealed younger divergences across shallower, narrower valleys. We recovered discordant divergence times for all valley-affected montane birds, mostly in the Pleistocene, supporting the Pliestocene-pump hypotheses and highlighting the role of climatic fluctuations during this period in driving species evolution. A majority of species remain unaffected by valleys, perhaps owing to geneflow or extinction–recolonization dynamics. Studying almost the entire community allowed us to uncover a range of species’ responses, including some generalizable and other unpredicted patterns.

Relationship between atmospheric BC concentration and vehicular traffic in high mountain locations, case of study: Portillo, Chilean Central Andes

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Florencia Ruggeri ◽  
Victor Vidal ◽  
Francisco Cereceda-Balic
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Seasonal Pattern ◽  
Early Morning ◽  
Central Andes ◽  
Traffic Density ◽  
High Mountain ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
Vehicular Traffic ◽  
Mitigation And Adaptation ◽  
The Impact

<p>Black carbon (BC) has been pointed as the second largest contributor to climate change after greenhouse gases due to its superior ability to absorb solar radiation. This characteristic is particularly relevant in cryospheric environments, where the presence of BC has been related to a decrease in the albedo of ice/snow surfaces and the acceleration of their melting. In this sense, determination and quantification of BC levels in remote areas can be useful when defining and differentiating emission sources from which they come, considering the importance that the resources of the cryosphere mean for the surrounding populations for drinking water supply, agriculture, hydropower, mining, etc.</p><p>In this work, measurements of atmospheric BC from August 2016 to November 2019, carried out in Portillo, Chilean Central Andes, in the "Nunatak" laboratory-refuge (32°50’43’’S, 70°07’47’’W, 3000 m.a.s.l) are presented. This site, located in the highest altitude sector of the Andes mountain range, is very close to “Los Libertadores”, the border between Chile and Argentina. The road connecting both countries has a very high traffic density, with many passenger cars and trucks traveling in both directions. Due to weather, this route has a seasonal operating schedule. During the austral summer (September 1 - May 31) vehicular traffic is allowed 24 hours a day, while in winter (June 1 - August 31) traffic is allowed only from 8 am to 8 pm. Additionally, during heavy snowfalls, the access for vehicles is banned. To establish the impact of vehicular traffic on the atmospheric BC levels in the area, BC concentrations were continuously monitored by a Multi-Angle Absorption Photometer (MAAP) (Model 5012, Thermo). BC was measured in PM2.5, sampled on a glass filter tape an inlet air flow of 1.0 m<sup>3</sup> h<sup>−1</sup>. Measurements were based on the optical attenuation at a wavelength of 637 nm. Data were originally sampled in one-minute resolution, but hourly and monthly means were extracted for further analysis. Results showed a markedly seasonal profile. Summer months presented the highest levels of BC for all the studied years, when the max. values were observed during the night and early morning hours, reaching 2.1 µg m<sup>-3</sup>. In turn, during the day there were significant declines in BC concentrations, with min. BC values of 0.2 µg m<sup>-3</sup>. Conversely, for all the years studied, winter months had lower average BC values than the summer months, with a markedly different hourly profile, since the max. values (up to 1.7 µg m<sup>-3</sup>) were reached in noon and afternoon hours, while the min. values fell up to 0.1 µg m<sup>-3</sup> during night and early morning hours. Furthermore, BC concentration levels in Portillo were measured at an altitude where the main glaciers of central Andes are, showing the impact that BC could cause in the nearby glaciers. This marked seasonal pattern is in line with the traffic operational schedule above-mentioned, suggesting that in the study area, vehicular traffic is the main emission source of atmospheric BC. These findings are key pieces to identifying and implementing successful strategies for mitigation and adaptation on climate change.</p>

scholarly journals Features of Transformation and Self-Organization of Mountain Nival-Glacial Geosystems

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 33-43
Author(s):  
A. D. Kitov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Formation Rate ◽  
Self Organization ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
Freezing And Thawing ◽  
Slowing Down ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Law

The Munku-Sardyk mountain range (3,491 m) represents the territory of the modern glaciation of The East Sayan. Different forms of transformation of nival-glacial geosystems have been preserved in this range. The processes of transformation and self-organization of geosystems are considered on the example of the Radde glacier and the unique stone glacier. Due to climate change, the glacier has shrunk considerably. Its area has decreased over 100 years from 0.3 to 0.19 km2, and over the last 20 years from 0.19 to 0.09 km2. However, the glacier has processes of self-preservation, slowing down the process of melting the glacier. This transformation of the glacier is manifested as the reservation of surface moraines. The peculiarities of the formation of surface moraines are considered. In the past century, the formation rate of moraines was 0.001 km2/year. Recently, the rate of formation of moraines has increased to 0.02 km2/year. In the second case, the unique stone stream (stone glacier) is an example of the transformation of the classical glacier into a new structure, which at this stage does not depend significantly on the observed warming, and can exist as an independent object for quite some time. The material is supplied by the rock of mountain range, and the transport by the ice bed is formed in winter from groundwater at the level of indigenous rocks, like subsurface ice. The structure of this stone stream is presented as an independent geosystem. It is assumed that the nival-glacial geosystems behave like lag systems. From the analysis of freezing and thawing of soils it follows that the increase and degradation of glaciers should be subject to the law of hystiresis.

scholarly journals Short-Lived Species Move Uphill Faster Under Climate Change

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joséphine Couet ◽  
Emma-Liina Marjakangas ◽  
Andrea Santangeli ◽  
John Atle Kålås ◽  
Åke Lindström ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Species Traits ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Range Shift ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
Large Spatial Scale ◽  
Altitudinal Range ◽  
Species Abundances

Abstract Climate change is pushing species ranges towards poles and mountain tops. Although many studies have documented local altitudinal shifts, knowledge of general patterns at a large spatial scale, such as a whole mountain range, is very limited. From a conservation perspective, studying altitudinal shifts is particularly important as mountain regions often represent biodiversity hotspots and are among the most vulnerable ecosystems. Here, we examine whether altitudinal shifts have occurred among birds in the Scandinavian mountains over 13 years and assess whether such shifts are related to species’ traits. Using abundance data, we show a clear pattern of uphill shifts in the mean altitudes of the bird species’ abundances across the Scandinavian mountains, with an average speed of 0.9 m per year. Out of 77 species, 54 shifted their ranges uphill. In general, the range shift was faster when the altitudinal range within the area was wider. Importantly, the altitudinal shift was strongly related to species’ longevity: short-lived species showed more pronounced altitudinal uphill shifts than long-lived species. Our results show that the altitudinal range shifts are not only driven by a small number of individuals at the range boundaries, but the overall bird abundances are on the move. This highlights the wide-ranging impact of climate change and the potential vulnerability of species with slow life-histories, as they appear unable to timely respond to rapidly changing climatic conditions.

scholarly journals Geographic shifts inAedes aegyptihabitat suitability in Ecuador using larval surveillance data and ecological niche modeling: Implications of climate change for public health vector control

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine A. Lippi ◽  
Anna M. Stewart-Ibarra ◽  
M.E. Franklin Bajaña Loor ◽  
Jose E. Dueñas Zambrano ◽  
Nelson A. Espinoza Lopez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Climate Change ◽  
Aedes Aegypti ◽  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Ecological Niche ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
Ecological Niche Models ◽  
Public Health Agencies ◽  
The Andes ◽  
Risk Of Disease

AbstractArboviral disease transmission byAedesmosquitoes poses a major challenge to public health systems in Ecuador, where constraints on health services and resource allocation call for spatially informed management decisions. Employing a unique dataset of larval occurrence records provided by the Ecuadorian Ministry of Health, we used ecological niche models (ENMs) to estimate the current geographic distribution ofAedes aegyptiin Ecuador, using mosquito presence as a proxy for risk of disease transmission. ENMs built with the Genetic Algorithm for Rule-Set Production (GARP) algorithm and a suite of environmental variables were assessed for agreement and accuracy. The top model of larval mosquito presence was projected to the year 2050 under various combinations of greenhouse gas emissions scenarios and models of climate change. Under current climatic conditions, larval mosquitoes were not predicted in areas of high elevation in Ecuador, such as the Andes mountain range, as well as the eastern portion of the Amazon basin. However, all models projected to scenarios of future climate change demonstrated potential shifts in mosquito distribution, wherein range contractions were seen throughout most of eastern Ecuador, and areas of transitional elevation became suitable for mosquito presence. Encroachment ofAe. aegyptiinto mountainous terrain was estimated to affect up to 4,215 km2under the most extreme scenario of climate change, an area which would put over 12,000 people currently living in transitional areas at risk. This distributional shift into communities at higher elevations indicates an area of concern for public health agencies, as targeted interventions may be needed to protect vulnerable populations with limited prior exposure to mosquito-borne diseases. Ultimately, the results of this study serve as a tool for informing public health policy and mosquito abatement strategies in Ecuador.Author summaryThe yellow fever mosquito (Aedes aegypti) is a medically important vector of arboviral diseases in Ecuador, such as dengue fever and chikungunya. ManagingAe. aegyptiis a challenge to public health agencies in Latin America, where the use of limited resources must be planned in an efficient, targeted manner. The spatial distribution ofAe. aegyptican be used as a proxy for risk of disease exposure, guiding policy formation and decision-making. We used ecological niche models in this study to predict the range ofAe. aegyptiin Ecuador, based on agency larval mosquito surveillance records and layers of environmental predictors (e.g. climate, altitude, and human population). The best models of current range were then projected to the year 2050 under a variety of greenhouse gas emissions scenarios and models of climate change. All modeled future scenarios predicted shifts in the range ofAe. aegypti, allowing us to assess human populations that may be at risk of becoming exposed toAedesvectored diseases. As climate changes, we predict that communities living in areas of transitional elevation along the Andes mountain range are vulnerable to the expansion ofAedes aegypti.

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