Global distribution and bioclimatic characterization of alpine biomes
Although there is a general consensus on the distribution and ecological features of terrestrial biomes, the allocation of alpine ecosystems in the global biogeographic system is still unclear. Here, we delineate a global map of alpine areas above the treeline by modelling regional treeline elevatio...
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/11585/896830 https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.05012 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ecog.05012 |
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ftunibolognairis:oai:cris.unibo.it:11585/896830 2024-09-09T19:11:25+00:00 Global distribution and bioclimatic characterization of alpine biomes Riccardo Testolin Fabio Attorre Borja Jimenez-Alfaro Riccardo Testolin Fabio Attorre Borja Jimenez-Alfaro 2020 ELETTRONICO https://hdl.handle.net/11585/896830 https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.05012 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ecog.05012 eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/WOS:000516869800001 volume:43 issue:6 firstpage:779 lastpage:788 numberofpages:10 journal:ECOGRAPHY https://hdl.handle.net/11585/896830 doi:10.1111/ecog.05012 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/scopus/2-s2.0-85080122021 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ecog.05012 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess alpine biome bioclimatic characterization global treeline Google Earth Engine NDVI primary productivity info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2020 ftunibolognairis https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.05012 2024-07-01T14:08:29Z Although there is a general consensus on the distribution and ecological features of terrestrial biomes, the allocation of alpine ecosystems in the global biogeographic system is still unclear. Here, we delineate a global map of alpine areas above the treeline by modelling regional treeline elevation at 30 m resolution, using global forest cover data and quantile regression. We then used global datasets to 1) assess the climatic characteristics of alpine ecosystems using principal component analysis, 2) define bioclimatic groups by an optimized cluster analysis and 3) evaluate patterns of primary productivity based on the normalized difference vegetation index. As defined here, alpine biomes cover 3.56 Mkm(2) or 2.64% of land outside Antarctica. Despite temperature differences across latitude, these ecosystems converge below a sharp threshold of 5.9 degrees C and towards the colder end of the global climatic space. Below that temperature threshold, alpine ecosystems are influenced by a latitudinal gradient of mean annual temperature and they are climatically differentiated by seasonality and continentality. This gradient delineates a climatic envelope of global alpine biomes around temperate, boreal and tundra biomes as defined in Whittaker's scheme. Although alpine biomes are similarly dominated by poorly vegetated areas, world ecoregions show strong differences in the productivity of their alpine belt irrespectively of major climate zones. These results suggest that vegetation structure and function of alpine ecosystems are driven by regional and local contingencies in addition to macroclimatic factors. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica Tundra IRIS Università degli Studi di Bologna (CRIS - Current Research Information System) Ecography 43 6 779 788 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
IRIS Università degli Studi di Bologna (CRIS - Current Research Information System) |
op_collection_id |
ftunibolognairis |
language |
English |
topic |
alpine biome bioclimatic characterization global treeline Google Earth Engine NDVI primary productivity |
spellingShingle |
alpine biome bioclimatic characterization global treeline Google Earth Engine NDVI primary productivity Riccardo Testolin Fabio Attorre Borja Jimenez-Alfaro Global distribution and bioclimatic characterization of alpine biomes |
topic_facet |
alpine biome bioclimatic characterization global treeline Google Earth Engine NDVI primary productivity |
description |
Although there is a general consensus on the distribution and ecological features of terrestrial biomes, the allocation of alpine ecosystems in the global biogeographic system is still unclear. Here, we delineate a global map of alpine areas above the treeline by modelling regional treeline elevation at 30 m resolution, using global forest cover data and quantile regression. We then used global datasets to 1) assess the climatic characteristics of alpine ecosystems using principal component analysis, 2) define bioclimatic groups by an optimized cluster analysis and 3) evaluate patterns of primary productivity based on the normalized difference vegetation index. As defined here, alpine biomes cover 3.56 Mkm(2) or 2.64% of land outside Antarctica. Despite temperature differences across latitude, these ecosystems converge below a sharp threshold of 5.9 degrees C and towards the colder end of the global climatic space. Below that temperature threshold, alpine ecosystems are influenced by a latitudinal gradient of mean annual temperature and they are climatically differentiated by seasonality and continentality. This gradient delineates a climatic envelope of global alpine biomes around temperate, boreal and tundra biomes as defined in Whittaker's scheme. Although alpine biomes are similarly dominated by poorly vegetated areas, world ecoregions show strong differences in the productivity of their alpine belt irrespectively of major climate zones. These results suggest that vegetation structure and function of alpine ecosystems are driven by regional and local contingencies in addition to macroclimatic factors. |
author2 |
Riccardo Testolin Fabio Attorre Borja Jimenez-Alfaro |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Riccardo Testolin Fabio Attorre Borja Jimenez-Alfaro |
author_facet |
Riccardo Testolin Fabio Attorre Borja Jimenez-Alfaro |
author_sort |
Riccardo Testolin |
title |
Global distribution and bioclimatic characterization of alpine biomes |
title_short |
Global distribution and bioclimatic characterization of alpine biomes |
title_full |
Global distribution and bioclimatic characterization of alpine biomes |
title_fullStr |
Global distribution and bioclimatic characterization of alpine biomes |
title_full_unstemmed |
Global distribution and bioclimatic characterization of alpine biomes |
title_sort |
global distribution and bioclimatic characterization of alpine biomes |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/11585/896830 https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.05012 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ecog.05012 |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica Tundra |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica Tundra |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/WOS:000516869800001 volume:43 issue:6 firstpage:779 lastpage:788 numberofpages:10 journal:ECOGRAPHY https://hdl.handle.net/11585/896830 doi:10.1111/ecog.05012 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/scopus/2-s2.0-85080122021 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ecog.05012 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.05012 |
container_title |
Ecography |
container_volume |
43 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
779 |
op_container_end_page |
788 |
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1809751110035963904 |