Global distribution and climatic controls of natural mountain treelines.

Autor: He X; School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China.; School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK., Jiang X; School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China., Spracklen DV; School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK., Holden J; School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK., Liang E; Key Laboratory of Alpine Ecology, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.; CAS Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, Beijing, China., Liu H; College of Urban and Environmental Science and MOE Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes, Peking University, Beijing, China., Xu C; College of Urban and Environmental Science and MOE Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes, Peking University, Beijing, China., Du J; School of Geography and Planning, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China., Zhu K; Department of Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz, California, USA.; Institute for Global Change Biology and School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA., Elsen PR; Wildlife Conservation Society, Global Conservation Program, Bronx, New York, USA., Zeng Z; School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Global change biology [Glob Chang Biol] 2023 Dec; Vol. 29 (24), pp. 7001-7011. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Jul 21.
DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16885
Abstrakt: Mountain treelines are thought to be sensitive to climate change. However, how climate impacts mountain treelines is not yet fully understood as treelines may also be affected by other human activities. Here, we focus on "closed-loop" mountain treelines (CLMT) that completely encircle a mountain and are less likely to have been influenced by human land-use change. We detect a total length of ~916,425 km of CLMT across 243 mountain ranges globally and reveal a bimodal latitudinal distribution of treeline elevations with higher treeline elevations occurring at greater distances from the coast. Spatially, we find that temperature is the main climatic driver of treeline elevation in boreal and tropical regions, whereas precipitation drives CLMT position in temperate zones. Temporally, we show that 70% of CLMT have moved upward, with a mean shift rate of 1.2 m/year over the first decade of the 21st century. CLMT are shifting fastest in the tropics (mean of 3.1 m/year), but with greater variability. Our work provides a new mountain treeline database that isolates climate impacts from other anthropogenic pressures, and has important implications for biodiversity, natural resources, and ecosystem adaptation in a changing climate.
(© 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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