ToTE: A global database on trees of the treeline ecotone.
Globally, treelines form a transition zone between tree-dominated forest downslope and treeless alpine vegetation upslope. Treelines represent the highest boundary of "tree" life form in high-elevation mountains and at high latitudes. Recently, treelines have been shifting upslope in respo...
Published in: | Ecology |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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Wiley
2024
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.4309 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38724027 |
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record_format |
openpolar |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
PubMed Central (PMC) |
op_collection_id |
ftpubmed |
language |
English |
topic |
ToTE database alpine ecosystems climate change mountains treeline trees |
spellingShingle |
ToTE database alpine ecosystems climate change mountains treeline trees Dar, Firdous Ahmad Hamid, Maroof Malik, Rayees Ahmad Wani, Sajad Ahmad Singh, Chandra Prakash Shah, Manzoor Ahmad Khuroo, Anzar Ahmad ToTE: A global database on trees of the treeline ecotone. |
topic_facet |
ToTE database alpine ecosystems climate change mountains treeline trees |
description |
Globally, treelines form a transition zone between tree-dominated forest downslope and treeless alpine vegetation upslope. Treelines represent the highest boundary of "tree" life form in high-elevation mountains and at high latitudes. Recently, treelines have been shifting upslope in response to climate warming, so it has become important to understand global tree diversity and treeline distributions. However, to the best of our knowledge, no global database on tree flora of treelines exists, which limits our capacity to undertake macroecological analyses. Here, for the first time, we present a global data set on the trees of the treeline ecotone, supported by an online ToTE database. We synthesized the database from 1202 studies published over the last 60 years (1962 to 2022) following the Preferred Reporting Items in Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) protocol. We classified the tree species in the database into three categories: treeline tree (TL) species, near to treeline (NTL) tree species, and tree species with an upper montane range limit (TUMR). The ToTE Version-1 presents a total of 208 tree taxa, including 189 species, five subspecies, and 14 varieties, belonging to 54 genera and 26 families distributed across 34 mountain regions worldwide that either grow exactly at the treeline or have a range limit below the treeline. Of the total taxa, 155, 14, and 39 belong to TL, NTL, and TUMR, respectively. Genera such as Abies, Picea, Pinus, Larix, and Juniperus are more represented in the treeline tree category. On the other hand, Acer, Prunus, Populus, and Quercus have more representatives in the near to treeline category, whereas Erica, Nothofagus, and Polylepis contribute more tree species with an upper montane range limit. Furthermore, families such as Rosaceae and Pinaceae include trees that occur both at the treeline and with an upper montane range limit, whereas Sapindaceae includes trees that occur exclusively near to treeline. Our database also includes information on the global distribution patterns of treeline tree species richness across mountains and biomes. The mountains with the highest number of tree species are the Andes (39) followed by the Himalaya (37). Close to 67% of tree species show restricted distributions in different mountains, with the highest endemism in the Andes and the Himalaya. In terms of tree species distribution, Pinus sylvestris was widespread, with a distribution across nine mountain regions, followed by Picea glauca and Fagus sylvatica, both distributed across five mountain regions. In terms of species' distribution across biomes, the temperate biome harbors the highest treeline tree species richness (152 species), which may reflect the fact that the majority of studies are available from the temperate regions of the world. The remaining 56 species are distributed within five other biomes, with the least in dry tropical and subarctic (four species each). Furthermore, currently 40 treeline tree species fall under different International Union for Conservation of Nature threat categories. We anticipate that our database will help advance research on macroecological, biogeographic, evolutionary, climate-change, and conservation aspects of the treeline on a global scale. The data are released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 international license. Please cite this data paper when the data are reused. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Dar, Firdous Ahmad Hamid, Maroof Malik, Rayees Ahmad Wani, Sajad Ahmad Singh, Chandra Prakash Shah, Manzoor Ahmad Khuroo, Anzar Ahmad |
author_facet |
Dar, Firdous Ahmad Hamid, Maroof Malik, Rayees Ahmad Wani, Sajad Ahmad Singh, Chandra Prakash Shah, Manzoor Ahmad Khuroo, Anzar Ahmad |
author_sort |
Dar, Firdous Ahmad |
title |
ToTE: A global database on trees of the treeline ecotone. |
title_short |
ToTE: A global database on trees of the treeline ecotone. |
title_full |
ToTE: A global database on trees of the treeline ecotone. |
title_fullStr |
ToTE: A global database on trees of the treeline ecotone. |
title_full_unstemmed |
ToTE: A global database on trees of the treeline ecotone. |
title_sort |
tote: a global database on trees of the treeline ecotone. |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.4309 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38724027 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-58.767,-58.767,-69.200,-69.200) |
geographic |
Prisma |
geographic_facet |
Prisma |
genre |
Subarctic |
genre_facet |
Subarctic |
op_source |
Ecology ISSN:1939-9170 |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.4309 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38724027 |
op_rights |
© 2024 The Ecological Society of America. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.4309 |
container_title |
Ecology |
_version_ |
1801382726460243968 |
spelling |
ftpubmed:38724027 2024-06-09T07:49:51+00:00 ToTE: A global database on trees of the treeline ecotone. Dar, Firdous Ahmad Hamid, Maroof Malik, Rayees Ahmad Wani, Sajad Ahmad Singh, Chandra Prakash Shah, Manzoor Ahmad Khuroo, Anzar Ahmad 2024 May 09 https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.4309 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38724027 eng eng Wiley https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.4309 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38724027 © 2024 The Ecological Society of America. Ecology ISSN:1939-9170 ToTE database alpine ecosystems climate change mountains treeline trees Journal Article 2024 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.4309 2024-05-10T16:03:00Z Globally, treelines form a transition zone between tree-dominated forest downslope and treeless alpine vegetation upslope. Treelines represent the highest boundary of "tree" life form in high-elevation mountains and at high latitudes. Recently, treelines have been shifting upslope in response to climate warming, so it has become important to understand global tree diversity and treeline distributions. However, to the best of our knowledge, no global database on tree flora of treelines exists, which limits our capacity to undertake macroecological analyses. Here, for the first time, we present a global data set on the trees of the treeline ecotone, supported by an online ToTE database. We synthesized the database from 1202 studies published over the last 60 years (1962 to 2022) following the Preferred Reporting Items in Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) protocol. We classified the tree species in the database into three categories: treeline tree (TL) species, near to treeline (NTL) tree species, and tree species with an upper montane range limit (TUMR). The ToTE Version-1 presents a total of 208 tree taxa, including 189 species, five subspecies, and 14 varieties, belonging to 54 genera and 26 families distributed across 34 mountain regions worldwide that either grow exactly at the treeline or have a range limit below the treeline. Of the total taxa, 155, 14, and 39 belong to TL, NTL, and TUMR, respectively. Genera such as Abies, Picea, Pinus, Larix, and Juniperus are more represented in the treeline tree category. On the other hand, Acer, Prunus, Populus, and Quercus have more representatives in the near to treeline category, whereas Erica, Nothofagus, and Polylepis contribute more tree species with an upper montane range limit. Furthermore, families such as Rosaceae and Pinaceae include trees that occur both at the treeline and with an upper montane range limit, whereas Sapindaceae includes trees that occur exclusively near to treeline. Our database also includes information on the global distribution patterns of treeline tree species richness across mountains and biomes. The mountains with the highest number of tree species are the Andes (39) followed by the Himalaya (37). Close to 67% of tree species show restricted distributions in different mountains, with the highest endemism in the Andes and the Himalaya. In terms of tree species distribution, Pinus sylvestris was widespread, with a distribution across nine mountain regions, followed by Picea glauca and Fagus sylvatica, both distributed across five mountain regions. In terms of species' distribution across biomes, the temperate biome harbors the highest treeline tree species richness (152 species), which may reflect the fact that the majority of studies are available from the temperate regions of the world. The remaining 56 species are distributed within five other biomes, with the least in dry tropical and subarctic (four species each). Furthermore, currently 40 treeline tree species fall under different International Union for Conservation of Nature threat categories. We anticipate that our database will help advance research on macroecological, biogeographic, evolutionary, climate-change, and conservation aspects of the treeline on a global scale. The data are released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 international license. Please cite this data paper when the data are reused. Article in Journal/Newspaper Subarctic PubMed Central (PMC) Prisma ENVELOPE(-58.767,-58.767,-69.200,-69.200) Ecology |