Accelerated increase in plant species richness on mountain summits is linked to warming

Steinbauer M, Grytnes JA, Jurasinski G, Kulonen A, Lenoir J, Pauli H, Rixen C, Winkler M, Bardy-Durchhalter M, Barni E, Bjorkman A, Breiner FT, Burg S, Czortek P, Dawes M, Delimat A, Dullinger S, Erschbamer B, Felde V, Fernández-Arberas O, Fossheim K, Gómez-García D, Georges D, Grindrud E, Haider S, Haugum S, Henriksen H, Herreros M, Jaroszewicz B, Jaroszynska F, Kanka R, Kapfer J, Klanderud K, Kühn I, Lamprecht A, Matteodo M, Morra di Cella U, Normand S, Odland A, Olsen S, Palacio S, Petey M, Piscová V, Sedlakova B, Steinbauer K, Stöckli V, Svenning JC, Teppa G, Theurillat JP, Vittoz P, Woodin S, Zimmermann N, Wipf S (2018)

Publication Status: Published

Publication Type: Journal article, Original article

Publication year: 2018

Journal

Book Volume: 556

Pages Range: 231-234

Journal Issue: 7700

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0005-6

Abstract

Globally accelerating trends in societal development and human environmental impacts since the mid-twentieth century are known as the Great Acceleration and have been discussed as a key indicator of the onset of the Anthropocene epoch. While reports on ecological responses (for example, changes in species range or local extinctions) to the Great Acceleration are multiplying, it is unknown whether such biotic responses are undergoing a similar acceleration over time. This knowledge gap stems from the limited availability of time series data on biodiversity changes across large temporal and geographical extents. Here we use a dataset of repeated plant surveys from 302 mountain summits across Europe, spanning 145 years of observation, to assess the temporal trajectory of mountain biodiversity changes as a globally coherent imprint of the Anthropocene. We find a continent-wide acceleration in the rate of increase in plant species richness, with five times as much species enrichment between 2007 and 2016 as fifty years ago, between 1957 and 1966. This acceleration is strikingly synchronized with accelerated global warming and is not linked to alternative global change drivers. The accelerating increases in species richness on mountain summits across this broad spatial extent demonstrate that acceleration in climate-induced biotic change is occurring even in remote places on Earth, with potentially far-ranging consequences not only for biodiversity, but also for ecosystem functioning and services.

Authors with CRIS profile

Involved external institutions

University of Warsaw / Uniwersytet Warszawski Poland (PL) University of Bergen / Universitetet i Bergen Norway (NO) Eidgenössische Forschungsanstalt für Wald, Schnee und Landschaft (WSL) Switzerland (CH) University of Turin / Università degli Studi di Torino (UNITO) Italy (IT) Universität für Bodenkultur Wien (BOKU) / University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna Austria (AT) Aarhus University Denmark (DK) University of Aberdeen United Kingdom (GB) Copenhagen Business School (CBS) Denmark (DK) Universität Rostock Germany (DE) Université de Lausanne (UNIL) Switzerland (CH) Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck / University of Innsbruck Austria (AT) Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS) / Slovenská akadémia vied (SAV) Slovakia (SK) University of Oslo Norway (NO) Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) Germany (DE) Universitetet i Tromsø / The Arctic University of Norway (UiT) Norway (NO) Universität Wien / University of Vienna Austria (AT) University of Geneva / Université de Genève (UNIGE) Switzerland (CH)

How to cite

APA:

Steinbauer, M., Grytnes, J.-A., Jurasinski, G., Kulonen, A., Lenoir, J., Pauli, H.,... Wipf, S. (2018). Accelerated increase in plant species richness on mountain summits is linked to warming. Nature, 556(7700), 231-234. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0005-6

MLA:

Steinbauer, Manuel, et al. "Accelerated increase in plant species richness on mountain summits is linked to warming." Nature 556.7700 (2018): 231-234.

BibTeX: Download