Alpine Tundra Contraction under Future Warming Scenarios in Europe
The alpine tundra is the highest elevation belt of high mountains. This zone is an important reservoir of freshwater and provides habitat to unique species. This study assesses projected changes in the areal extent of the alpine tundra climate zone in three warming levels in European mountains. The...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos11070698 https://doaj.org/article/518a4c968c714e85806c742e60ace6ff |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:518a4c968c714e85806c742e60ace6ff 2023-05-15T18:39:32+02:00 Alpine Tundra Contraction under Future Warming Scenarios in Europe José I. Barredo Achille Mauri Giovanni Caudullo 2020-07-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos11070698 https://doaj.org/article/518a4c968c714e85806c742e60ace6ff EN eng MDPI AG https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/11/7/698 https://doaj.org/toc/2073-4433 doi:10.3390/atmos11070698 2073-4433 https://doaj.org/article/518a4c968c714e85806c742e60ace6ff Atmosphere, Vol 11, Iss 698, p 698 (2020) alpine tundra climate change biodiversity global warming Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 article 2020 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos11070698 2022-12-31T15:08:59Z The alpine tundra is the highest elevation belt of high mountains. This zone is an important reservoir of freshwater and provides habitat to unique species. This study assesses projected changes in the areal extent of the alpine tundra climate zone in three warming levels in European mountains. The alpine tundra was delineated using the Köppen-Geiger climate classification. We used 11 regional climate model simulations from EURO-CORDEX disaggregated at a one-kilometre grid size representing the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios in the 1.5, 2 and 3 °C warming levels. Mitigation represented by the 1.5 °C warming level reduces projected losses of the alpine tundra. However, even in this warming level the projected contraction is severe. In this case, the contraction in the Alps, Scandes and Pyrenees together is projected at between 44% and 48% of the present extent. The contraction is projected to climb in the 2 °C warming to above 57%, while the 3 °C warming would imply that the alpine tundra will be near to collapse in Europe with a contraction of 84% in the three regions, which host most of the alpine tundra in Europe. The projected changes have negative implications for a range of ecosystem services and biodiversity, such as habitat provision, water provision and regulation, erosion protection, water quality and recreational services. Article in Journal/Newspaper Tundra Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Geiger ENVELOPE(-62.900,-62.900,-64.300,-64.300) Atmosphere 11 7 698 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
alpine tundra climate change biodiversity global warming Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
spellingShingle |
alpine tundra climate change biodiversity global warming Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 José I. Barredo Achille Mauri Giovanni Caudullo Alpine Tundra Contraction under Future Warming Scenarios in Europe |
topic_facet |
alpine tundra climate change biodiversity global warming Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
description |
The alpine tundra is the highest elevation belt of high mountains. This zone is an important reservoir of freshwater and provides habitat to unique species. This study assesses projected changes in the areal extent of the alpine tundra climate zone in three warming levels in European mountains. The alpine tundra was delineated using the Köppen-Geiger climate classification. We used 11 regional climate model simulations from EURO-CORDEX disaggregated at a one-kilometre grid size representing the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios in the 1.5, 2 and 3 °C warming levels. Mitigation represented by the 1.5 °C warming level reduces projected losses of the alpine tundra. However, even in this warming level the projected contraction is severe. In this case, the contraction in the Alps, Scandes and Pyrenees together is projected at between 44% and 48% of the present extent. The contraction is projected to climb in the 2 °C warming to above 57%, while the 3 °C warming would imply that the alpine tundra will be near to collapse in Europe with a contraction of 84% in the three regions, which host most of the alpine tundra in Europe. The projected changes have negative implications for a range of ecosystem services and biodiversity, such as habitat provision, water provision and regulation, erosion protection, water quality and recreational services. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
José I. Barredo Achille Mauri Giovanni Caudullo |
author_facet |
José I. Barredo Achille Mauri Giovanni Caudullo |
author_sort |
José I. Barredo |
title |
Alpine Tundra Contraction under Future Warming Scenarios in Europe |
title_short |
Alpine Tundra Contraction under Future Warming Scenarios in Europe |
title_full |
Alpine Tundra Contraction under Future Warming Scenarios in Europe |
title_fullStr |
Alpine Tundra Contraction under Future Warming Scenarios in Europe |
title_full_unstemmed |
Alpine Tundra Contraction under Future Warming Scenarios in Europe |
title_sort |
alpine tundra contraction under future warming scenarios in europe |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos11070698 https://doaj.org/article/518a4c968c714e85806c742e60ace6ff |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-62.900,-62.900,-64.300,-64.300) |
geographic |
Geiger |
geographic_facet |
Geiger |
genre |
Tundra |
genre_facet |
Tundra |
op_source |
Atmosphere, Vol 11, Iss 698, p 698 (2020) |
op_relation |
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/11/7/698 https://doaj.org/toc/2073-4433 doi:10.3390/atmos11070698 2073-4433 https://doaj.org/article/518a4c968c714e85806c742e60ace6ff |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos11070698 |
container_title |
Atmosphere |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
698 |
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1766228457826549760 |