Topographic heterogeneity explains patterns of vegetation response to climate change (1972–2008) across a mountain landscape, Niwot Ridge, Colorado
The distributions of biomes worldwide are predicted to shift as vegetation tracks climate change. Ecologists often use coarse-scale climate models to predict these shifts along broad elevational and latitudinal gradients, but these assessments could fail to capture important dynamics by ignoring fin...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1080/15230430.2018.1504492 https://doaj.org/article/2392dd63703e4b26b658d8d8868d46e8 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:2392dd63703e4b26b658d8d8868d46e8 2023-05-15T14:14:30+02:00 Topographic heterogeneity explains patterns of vegetation response to climate change (1972–2008) across a mountain landscape, Niwot Ridge, Colorado Clifton P. Bueno de Mesquita Luke S. Tillmann Connor D. Bernard Katherine C. Rosemond Noah P. Molotch Katharine N. Suding 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1080/15230430.2018.1504492 https://doaj.org/article/2392dd63703e4b26b658d8d8868d46e8 EN eng Taylor & Francis Group http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15230430.2018.1504492 https://doaj.org/toc/1523-0430 https://doaj.org/toc/1938-4246 1523-0430 1938-4246 doi:10.1080/15230430.2018.1504492 https://doaj.org/article/2392dd63703e4b26b658d8d8868d46e8 Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, Vol 50, Iss 1 (2018) climate change alpine vegetation topography snowpack solar radiation Environmental sciences GE1-350 Ecology QH540-549.5 article 2018 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1080/15230430.2018.1504492 2022-12-31T10:49:42Z The distributions of biomes worldwide are predicted to shift as vegetation tracks climate change. Ecologists often use coarse-scale climate models to predict these shifts along broad elevational and latitudinal gradients, but these assessments could fail to capture important dynamics by ignoring fine-scale heterogeneity. We ask how the elevational ranges of vegetation types have changed in a mountainous landscape, and investigate the influence of fine-scale topographic, snowpack, and soil properties on vegetation change. We manually classified vegetation from high-resolution repeat aerial photographs from 1972 and 2008 at Niwot Ridge, Colorado, USA, and generally found that trees and shrubs colonized tundra, while tundra colonized barren soils. Only shrubs expanded their elevational range. Several fine-scale topographic, soil and snow characteristics, including elevation, slope, solar radiation, soil bulk density, and interannual snowpack variability, modulated where plant establishment occurred. Each vegetation type had a unique suite of variables best predicting its establishment in new areas. We suggest that fine-scale heterogeneity may strongly control how plants in mountainous regions respond to climate change, and different vegetation types may be sensitive to different aspects of this heterogeneity. An improved understanding of the factors controlling vegetation change gives us a broader understanding of ecosystem response to climate change, nitrogen deposition, and release from grazing. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarctic and Alpine Research Arctic Tundra Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research 50 1 e1504492 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
climate change alpine vegetation topography snowpack solar radiation Environmental sciences GE1-350 Ecology QH540-549.5 |
spellingShingle |
climate change alpine vegetation topography snowpack solar radiation Environmental sciences GE1-350 Ecology QH540-549.5 Clifton P. Bueno de Mesquita Luke S. Tillmann Connor D. Bernard Katherine C. Rosemond Noah P. Molotch Katharine N. Suding Topographic heterogeneity explains patterns of vegetation response to climate change (1972–2008) across a mountain landscape, Niwot Ridge, Colorado |
topic_facet |
climate change alpine vegetation topography snowpack solar radiation Environmental sciences GE1-350 Ecology QH540-549.5 |
description |
The distributions of biomes worldwide are predicted to shift as vegetation tracks climate change. Ecologists often use coarse-scale climate models to predict these shifts along broad elevational and latitudinal gradients, but these assessments could fail to capture important dynamics by ignoring fine-scale heterogeneity. We ask how the elevational ranges of vegetation types have changed in a mountainous landscape, and investigate the influence of fine-scale topographic, snowpack, and soil properties on vegetation change. We manually classified vegetation from high-resolution repeat aerial photographs from 1972 and 2008 at Niwot Ridge, Colorado, USA, and generally found that trees and shrubs colonized tundra, while tundra colonized barren soils. Only shrubs expanded their elevational range. Several fine-scale topographic, soil and snow characteristics, including elevation, slope, solar radiation, soil bulk density, and interannual snowpack variability, modulated where plant establishment occurred. Each vegetation type had a unique suite of variables best predicting its establishment in new areas. We suggest that fine-scale heterogeneity may strongly control how plants in mountainous regions respond to climate change, and different vegetation types may be sensitive to different aspects of this heterogeneity. An improved understanding of the factors controlling vegetation change gives us a broader understanding of ecosystem response to climate change, nitrogen deposition, and release from grazing. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Clifton P. Bueno de Mesquita Luke S. Tillmann Connor D. Bernard Katherine C. Rosemond Noah P. Molotch Katharine N. Suding |
author_facet |
Clifton P. Bueno de Mesquita Luke S. Tillmann Connor D. Bernard Katherine C. Rosemond Noah P. Molotch Katharine N. Suding |
author_sort |
Clifton P. Bueno de Mesquita |
title |
Topographic heterogeneity explains patterns of vegetation response to climate change (1972–2008) across a mountain landscape, Niwot Ridge, Colorado |
title_short |
Topographic heterogeneity explains patterns of vegetation response to climate change (1972–2008) across a mountain landscape, Niwot Ridge, Colorado |
title_full |
Topographic heterogeneity explains patterns of vegetation response to climate change (1972–2008) across a mountain landscape, Niwot Ridge, Colorado |
title_fullStr |
Topographic heterogeneity explains patterns of vegetation response to climate change (1972–2008) across a mountain landscape, Niwot Ridge, Colorado |
title_full_unstemmed |
Topographic heterogeneity explains patterns of vegetation response to climate change (1972–2008) across a mountain landscape, Niwot Ridge, Colorado |
title_sort |
topographic heterogeneity explains patterns of vegetation response to climate change (1972–2008) across a mountain landscape, niwot ridge, colorado |
publisher |
Taylor & Francis Group |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1080/15230430.2018.1504492 https://doaj.org/article/2392dd63703e4b26b658d8d8868d46e8 |
genre |
Antarctic and Alpine Research Arctic Tundra |
genre_facet |
Antarctic and Alpine Research Arctic Tundra |
op_source |
Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, Vol 50, Iss 1 (2018) |
op_relation |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15230430.2018.1504492 https://doaj.org/toc/1523-0430 https://doaj.org/toc/1938-4246 1523-0430 1938-4246 doi:10.1080/15230430.2018.1504492 https://doaj.org/article/2392dd63703e4b26b658d8d8868d46e8 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1080/15230430.2018.1504492 |
container_title |
Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research |
container_volume |
50 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
e1504492 |
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1766286930672091136 |