scholarly journals Mammalian herbivores restrict the altitudinal range limits of alpine plants

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua S. Lynn ◽  
Tom E. X. Miller ◽  
Jennifer A. Rudgers
Keyword(s):  
Alpine Plants ◽  
Range Limits ◽  
Mammalian Herbivores ◽  
Altitudinal Range

scholarly journals Climate change and anthropogenic food manipulation interact in shifting the distribution of a large herbivore at its altitudinal range limit

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Julius G. Bright Ross ◽  
Wibke Peters ◽  
Federico Ossi ◽  
Paul R. Moorcroft ◽  
Emanuele Cordano ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Snow Cover ◽  
Roe Deer ◽  
Space Use ◽  
Resource Provisioning ◽  
Range Limits ◽  
Range Limit ◽  
Large Herbivore ◽  
Altitudinal Range ◽  
Snow Conditions

AbstractUngulates in alpine ecosystems are constrained by winter harshness through resource limitation and direct mortality from weather extremes. However, little empirical evidence has definitively established how current climate change and other anthropogenic modifications of resource availability affect ungulate winter distribution, especially at their range limits. Here, we used a combination of historical (1997–2002) and contemporary (2012–2015) Eurasian roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) relocation datasets that span changes in snowpack characteristics and two levels of supplemental feeding to compare and forecast probability of space use at the species’ altitudinal range limit. Scarcer snow cover in the contemporary period interacted with the augmented feeding site distribution to increase the elevation of winter range limits, and we predict this trend will continue under climate change. Moreover, roe deer have shifted from historically using feeding sites primarily under deep snow conditions to contemporarily using them under a wider range of snow conditions as their availability has increased. Combined with scarcer snow cover during December, January, and April, this trend has reduced inter-annual variability in space use patterns in these months. These spatial responses to climate- and artificial resource-provisioning shifts evidence the importance of these changing factors in shaping large herbivore spatial distribution and, consequently, ecosystem dynamics.

Climate determines upper, but not lower, altitudinal range limits of Pacific Northwest conifers

Ecology ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 92 (6) ◽  
pp. 1323-1331 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. K. Ettinger ◽  
K. R. Ford ◽  
J. HilleRisLambers
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Range Limits ◽  
Altitudinal Range

Materials to the lichen flora of Samurskiy Ridge (high mountainous Dagestan)

2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 397-406
Author(s):  
A. B. Ismailov ◽  
G. P. Urbanavichus
Keyword(s):  
North Caucasus ◽  
Lichenicolous Fungi ◽  
Greater Caucasus ◽  
Altitudinal Range ◽  
The North ◽  
New Findings ◽  
Mountainous Landscapes ◽  
First Time ◽  
Lichen Flora

The lichens and lichenicolous fungi of high mountainous landscapes of Samurskiy Ridge were studied in altitudinal range 2400–3770 m a. s. l. for the first time and 112 species are recorded. Among them 33 species, 10 genera (Arthrorhaphis, Baeomyces, Calvitimela, Epilichen, Lambiella, Psorinia, Rufoplaca, Sagedia, Sporastatia, Tremolecia) and 4 families (Anamylopsoraceae, Arthrorhaphidaceae, Baeomycetaceae, Hymeneliaceae) are new for Dagestan, six species (Buellia uberior, Carbonea atronivea, Lecanora atrosulphurea, Lecidea fuliginosa, L. swartzioidea, Rhizoplaca subdiscrepans) are reported for the first time for the Greater Caucasus and two species (Acarospora subpruinata and Rhizocarpon postumum) — for the North Caucasus. Most of the new findings were collected from 3500–3770 m a. s. l.

Advances in the studies of reproductive strategies of alpine plants

2013 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 286-299
Author(s):  
Peng Deli ◽  
Zhang Zhiqiang ◽  
Niu Yang ◽  
Yang Yang ◽  
Song Bo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Strategies ◽  
Alpine Plants

scholarly journals Contrasting capabilities of two ungulate species to cope with extremes of aridity

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Melinda Boyers ◽  
Francesca Parrini ◽  
Norman Owen-Smith ◽  
Barend F. N. Erasmus ◽  
Robyn S. Hetem
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
High Water ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Body Temperatures ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Ambient Temperatures ◽  
Mammalian Herbivores ◽  
Dry Seasons ◽  
Connochaetes Taurinus

AbstractSouthern Africa is expected to experience increased frequency and intensity of droughts through climate change, which will adversely affect mammalian herbivores. Using bio-loggers, we tested the expectation that wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus), a grazer with high water-dependence, would be more sensitive to drought conditions than the arid-adapted gemsbok (Oryx gazella gazella). The study, conducted in the Kalahari, encompassed two hot-dry seasons with similar ambient temperatures but differing rainfall patterns during the preceding wet season. In the drier year both ungulates selected similar cooler microclimates, but wildebeest travelled larger distances than gemsbok, presumably in search of water. Body temperatures in both species reached lower daily minimums and higher daily maximums in the drier season but daily fluctuations were wider in wildebeest than in gemsbok. Lower daily minimum body temperatures displayed by wildebeest suggest that wildebeest were under greater nutritional stress than gemsbok. Moving large distances when water is scarce may have compromised the energy balance of the water dependent wildebeest, a trade-off likely to be exacerbated with future climate change.

scholarly journals Past and future snowmelt trends in the Swiss Alps: the role of temperature and snowpack

2021 ◽  
Vol 165 (3-4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Vorkauf ◽  
Christoph Marty ◽  
Ansgar Kahmen ◽  
Erika Hiltbrunner
Keyword(s):  
Snow Depth ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Alpine Plants ◽  
Swiss Alps ◽  
Climate Change Scenarios ◽  
Freezing Damage ◽  
Strong Shift ◽  
Air Temperatures ◽  
Early Snowmelt

AbstractThe start of the growing season for alpine plants is primarily determined by the date of snowmelt. We analysed time series of snow depth at 23 manually operated and 15 automatic (IMIS) stations between 1055 and 2555 m asl in the Swiss Central Alps. Between 1958 and 2019, snowmelt dates occurred 2.8 ± 1.3 days earlier in the year per decade, with a strong shift towards earlier snowmelt dates during the late 1980s and early 1990s, but non-significant trends thereafter. Snowmelt dates at high-elevation automatic stations strongly correlated with snowmelt dates at lower-elevation manual stations. At all elevations, snowmelt dates strongly depended on spring air temperatures. More specifically, 44% of the variance in snowmelt dates was explained by the first day when a three-week running mean of daily air temperatures passed a 5 °C threshold. The mean winter snow depth accounted for 30% of the variance. We adopted the effects of air temperature and snowpack height to Swiss climate change scenarios to explore likely snowmelt trends throughout the twenty-first century. Under a high-emission scenario (RCP8.5), we simulated snowmelt dates to advance by 6 days per decade by the end of the century. By then, snowmelt dates could occur one month earlier than during the reference periods (1990–2019 and 2000–2019). Such early snowmelt may extend the alpine growing season by one third of its current duration while exposing alpine plants to shorter daylengths and adding a higher risk of freezing damage.

scholarly journals Using next generation sequencing of alpine plants to improve fecal metabarcoding diet analysis for Dall’s sheep

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly E. Williams ◽  
Damian M. Menning ◽  
Eric J. Wald ◽  
Sandra L. Talbot ◽  
Kumi L. Rattenbury ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sequence Data ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Alpine Plants ◽  
Diet Analysis ◽  
Reference Sequence ◽  
Reference Library ◽  
Ovis Dalli ◽  
Plant Animal Interactions ◽  
Dall’S Sheep ◽  
Northwestern North America

Abstract Objectives Dall’s sheep (Ovis dalli dalli) are important herbivores in the mountainous ecosystems of northwestern North America, and recent declines in some populations have sparked concern. Our aim was to improve capabilities for fecal metabarcoding diet analysis of Dall’s sheep and other herbivores by contributing new sequence data for arctic and alpine plants. This expanded reference library will provide critical reference sequence data that will facilitate metabarcoding diet analysis of Dall’s sheep and thus improve understanding of plant-animal interactions in a region undergoing rapid climate change. Data description We provide sequences for the chloroplast rbcL gene of 16 arctic-alpine vascular plant species that are known to comprise the diet of Dall’s sheep. These sequences contribute to a growing reference library that can be used in diet studies of arctic herbivores.

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