Response of rare alpine plant species to climate change in the Ukrainian Carpathians

• Autores: Yuriy kobiv
• Localización: Folia geobotánica: A journal of plant ecology and systematics, ISSN-e 1874-9348, ISSN 1211-9520, Vol. 52, Nº 2, 2017, págs. 217-226
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen
  • español

    alpine species climate change extinction population Carpathians

  • English

    Cold-adapted plant species in mountainous areas all over Europe are affected by contemporary climatic changes. This study presents a comparison of past and present distribution of rare alpine species in the high-mountain zone of the Ukrainian Carpathians, as well as trends in their monitored populations. Cold-adapted species proved to be the most vulnerable at the lower limit of their distribution, which has been undergoing an upward shift. Declines or extinctions have been noted in species typical of snowbed (Cerastium cerastoides, Salix herbacea, Saxifraga carpatica, Veronica alpina), glareophytic (Cardaminopsis neglecta, Oxyria digyna, Saxifraga oppositifolia), saxicolous (Erigeron atticus, Lloydia serotina, Veronica bellidioides) and hygrophytic habitats (Pedicularis oederi, Saxifraga aizoides). On the other hand, there are examples of positive responses of other species (Gentiana punctata, Loiseleuria procumbens) resulting from the decrease of snow cover and consequent frost damage to vegetation, which reduce competition and/or create microsites suitable for seed recruitment. Restricted to atypically low elevations, outlying populations of many declining alpine species are geographically peripheral in the Ukrainian Carpathians, and their extinction causes contraction of the species’ geographical ranges and significant irreversible loss of biodiversity in the region. The current decline of cold-adapted species results not only from warming during the most recent period, but is also triggered by an extinction debt accumulated in the past.