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Disparity in elevational shifts of E uropean trees in response to recent climate warming
Author(s) -
Rabasa Sonia G.,
Granda Elena,
Benavides Raquel,
Kunstler Georges,
Espelta Josep M.,
Ogaya Romá,
Peñuelas Josep,
SchererLorenzen Michael,
Gil Wojciech,
Grodzki Wojciech,
Ambrozy Slawomir,
Bergh Johan,
Hódar José A.,
Zamora Regino,
Valladares Fernando
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
global change biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.146
H-Index - 255
eISSN - 1365-2486
pISSN - 1354-1013
DOI - 10.1111/gcb.12220
Subject(s) - fagus sylvatica , climate change , range (aeronautics) , ecology , picea abies , species distribution , quercus petraea , abundance (ecology) , global warming , altitude (triangle) , temperate climate , beech , biology , transect , juvenile , latitude , geography , habitat , materials science , geometry , mathematics , geodesy , composite material
Abstract Predicting climate‐driven changes in plant distribution is crucial for biodiversity conservation and management under recent climate change. Climate warming is expected to induce movement of species upslope and towards higher latitudes. However, the mechanisms and physiological processes behind the altitudinal and latitudinal distribution range of a tree species are complex and depend on each tree species features and vary over ontogenetic stages. We investigated the altitudinal distribution differences between juvenile and adult individuals of seven major European tree species along elevational transects covering a wide latitudinal range from southern Spain (37°N) to northern Sweden (67°N). By comparing juvenile and adult distributions (shifts on the optimum position and the range limits) we assessed the response of species to present climate conditions in relation to previous conditions that prevailed when adults were established. Mean temperature increased by 0.86 °C on average at our sites during the last decade compared with previous 30‐year period. Only one of the species studied, A bies alba , matched the expected predictions under the observed warming, with a maximum abundance of juveniles at higher altitudes than adults. Three species, F agus sylvatica, P icea abies and P inus sylvestris , showed an opposite pattern while for other three species, such as Q uercus ilex, A cer pseudoplatanus and Q. petraea, we were no able to detect changes in distribution. These findings are in contrast with theoretical predictions and show that tree responses to climate change are complex and are obscured not only by other environmental factors but also by internal processes related to ontogeny and demography.