Climate-induced elevational range shifts and increase in plant species richness in a Himalayan biodiversity epicentre.

Global average temperature increase during the last century has induced species geographic range shifts and extinctions. Montane floras, in particular, are highly sensitive to climate change and mountains serve as suitable observation sites for tracing climate-induced biological response. The Himala...

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Autores principales:	Yasmeen Telwala, Barry W Brook, Kumar Manish, Maharaj K Pandit
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2013
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/f664ecba69a240c8bcd9897c450ce074
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id	oai:doaj.org-article:f664ecba69a240c8bcd9897c450ce074
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:f664ecba69a240c8bcd9897c450ce0742021-11-18T07:56:42ZClimate-induced elevational range shifts and increase in plant species richness in a Himalayan biodiversity epicentre.1932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0057103https://doaj.org/article/f664ecba69a240c8bcd9897c450ce0742013-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/23437322/?tool=EBIhttps://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203Global average temperature increase during the last century has induced species geographic range shifts and extinctions. Montane floras, in particular, are highly sensitive to climate change and mountains serve as suitable observation sites for tracing climate-induced biological response. The Himalaya constitute an important global biodiversity hotspot, yet studies on species' response to climate change from this region are lacking. Here we use historical (1849-50) and the recent (2007-2010) data on temperature and endemic species' elevational ranges to perform a correlative study in the two alpine valleys of Sikkim. We show that the ongoing warming in the alpine Sikkim Himalaya has transformed the plant assemblages. This study lends support to the hypothesis that changing climate is causing species distribution changes. We provide first evidence of warmer winters in the region compared to the last two centuries, with mean temperatures of the warmest and the coldest months may have increased by 0.76±0.25°C and 3.65±2°C, respectively. Warming-driven geographical range shifts were recorded in 87% of 124 endemic plant species studied in the region; upper range extensions of species have resulted in increased species richness in the upper alpine zone, compared to the 19(th) century. We recorded a shift of 23-998 m in species' upper elevation limit and a mean upward displacement rate of 27.53±22.04 m/decade in the present study. We infer that the present-day plant assemblages and community structure in the Himalaya is substantially different from the last century and is, therefore, in a state of flux under the impact of warming. The continued trend of warming is likely to result in ongoing elevational range contractions and eventually, species extinctions, particularly at mountaintops.Yasmeen TelwalaBarry W BrookKumar ManishMaharaj K PanditPublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRScienceQENPLoS ONE, Vol 8, Iss 2, p e57103 (2013)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Yasmeen Telwala Barry W Brook Kumar Manish Maharaj K Pandit Climate-induced elevational range shifts and increase in plant species richness in a Himalayan biodiversity epicentre.
description	Global average temperature increase during the last century has induced species geographic range shifts and extinctions. Montane floras, in particular, are highly sensitive to climate change and mountains serve as suitable observation sites for tracing climate-induced biological response. The Himalaya constitute an important global biodiversity hotspot, yet studies on species' response to climate change from this region are lacking. Here we use historical (1849-50) and the recent (2007-2010) data on temperature and endemic species' elevational ranges to perform a correlative study in the two alpine valleys of Sikkim. We show that the ongoing warming in the alpine Sikkim Himalaya has transformed the plant assemblages. This study lends support to the hypothesis that changing climate is causing species distribution changes. We provide first evidence of warmer winters in the region compared to the last two centuries, with mean temperatures of the warmest and the coldest months may have increased by 0.76±0.25°C and 3.65±2°C, respectively. Warming-driven geographical range shifts were recorded in 87% of 124 endemic plant species studied in the region; upper range extensions of species have resulted in increased species richness in the upper alpine zone, compared to the 19(th) century. We recorded a shift of 23-998 m in species' upper elevation limit and a mean upward displacement rate of 27.53±22.04 m/decade in the present study. We infer that the present-day plant assemblages and community structure in the Himalaya is substantially different from the last century and is, therefore, in a state of flux under the impact of warming. The continued trend of warming is likely to result in ongoing elevational range contractions and eventually, species extinctions, particularly at mountaintops.
format	article
author	Yasmeen Telwala Barry W Brook Kumar Manish Maharaj K Pandit
author_facet	Yasmeen Telwala Barry W Brook Kumar Manish Maharaj K Pandit
author_sort	Yasmeen Telwala
title	Climate-induced elevational range shifts and increase in plant species richness in a Himalayan biodiversity epicentre.
title_short	Climate-induced elevational range shifts and increase in plant species richness in a Himalayan biodiversity epicentre.
title_full	Climate-induced elevational range shifts and increase in plant species richness in a Himalayan biodiversity epicentre.
title_fullStr	Climate-induced elevational range shifts and increase in plant species richness in a Himalayan biodiversity epicentre.
title_full_unstemmed	Climate-induced elevational range shifts and increase in plant species richness in a Himalayan biodiversity epicentre.
title_sort	climate-induced elevational range shifts and increase in plant species richness in a himalayan biodiversity epicentre.
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate	2013
url	https://doaj.org/article/f664ecba69a240c8bcd9897c450ce074
work_keys_str_mv	AT yasmeentelwala climateinducedelevationalrangeshiftsandincreaseinplantspeciesrichnessinahimalayanbiodiversityepicentre AT barrywbrook climateinducedelevationalrangeshiftsandincreaseinplantspeciesrichnessinahimalayanbiodiversityepicentre AT kumarmanish climateinducedelevationalrangeshiftsandincreaseinplantspeciesrichnessinahimalayanbiodiversityepicentre AT maharajkpandit climateinducedelevationalrangeshiftsandincreaseinplantspeciesrichnessinahimalayanbiodiversityepicentre
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Climate-induced elevational range shifts and increase in plant species richness in a Himalayan biodiversity epicentre.

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