Treelines in the Swiss Alps: Growth Dynamics and Forest Succession in a Changing Climate ...
The alpine treeline is one of the most prominent ecosystem boundaries in nature. The two ecosystems that are separated by this ecotone – the subalpine forest and the alpine tundra – provide essential ecosystem goods and services (EGS) in densely populated mountain regions like the European Alps. Ong...
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| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
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ETH Zurich
2017
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| Online Access: | https://dx.doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000264159 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/264159 |
| Summary: | The alpine treeline is one of the most prominent ecosystem boundaries in nature. The two ecosystems that are separated by this ecotone – the subalpine forest and the alpine tundra – provide essential ecosystem goods and services (EGS) in densely populated mountain regions like the European Alps. Ongoing global climate change with its temperature increase affects the major limiting factor of tree growth close to treeline. Moreover, mountain regions have experienced a more pronounced temperature increase than the global average, and this is expected to continue into the future, with far-reaching consequences for forest dynamics at treeline and therefore also for the EGS provided by both ecosystem types. Although the alpine treeline has attracted scientific interest for centuries, understanding the interplay between factors influencing treeline formation and subalpine forest dynamics, especially at the regional to local scale, remains a challenge. To reliably quantify the consequences of global warming for ... |
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