A New Terrestrial Species of Colura (Marchantiophyta: Lejeuneaceae) at Tropical High Elevations (Boyacá, Colombia) (original) (raw)
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2021
The high altitudes and the alpine environments of the mountain reliefs of the temperate regions are defined therefore and immediately recognizable because they corresponds to the territories above the "tree line". However, these high-mountain conditions are also widely found in the intertropical belt where imposing mountain ranges and individual mountains rise well over 2000 metres above the surrounding plains.From the Andes to Ruwenzori, from the Ethiopian Plateau to Papua New Guinea, altitude and temperature gradient play a fundamental role in these regions. But oceanic winds, relations with monsoon cycles, exposure and the morphology of the mountain groups assume a particular importance. The result, for these places and their specific biological diversity, is a new and unexpected way of being "alpine". This unusual exploration is made possible thanks to the photographs taken by MUSE researchers and international colleagues who, out of curiosity, desire for kno...
1997
Es presenten els resultats d'un estudi preliminar sobre la distribució dels atributs morfolbgics de la vegetació al llarg d'un gradient altitudinal del massís del Montseny. L'estudi dels tipus ecomorfolbgics resulta un mttode efica~ per la caracterització funcional i adaptativa de les comunitats vegetals. Característiques com el percentatge de fanerbfits, la caiguda de fulles, l'alqada de les plantes i el dilmetre de les capqades decreix amb l'altitud, mcntre que la presincia de camifits s'incrementa gradualment. Les condicions ambientals i les pertorbacions determinen les estrattgies adaptatives.
Neotropical Biodiversity, 2021
Opportunities to track environmental changes over more than a century are rare in tropical mountains. Edward Whymper’s survey of flora and fauna on the summit of Mt. Corazón (Ecuador, 4788 m a.s.l.) in 1880 provides a unique opportunity to compare historical observations with the current composition of plant and insect communities on a tropical alpine mountain top. We studied Whymper’s archives and historic specimens in London and Paris, and performed a resurvey of vascular plants and ground beetles (Coleoptera Carabidae) in January 2020. Currently, a large part of the summit area of Corazón is heavily damaged by trampling and stone removal due to mountain tourism, and no vascular plants are present in the deteriorated area on the top of the ridge. However, more species were collected in 2020 than in 1880: 22 of vascular plants vs. 7, and 4 of ground beetles vs. 1. Upslope shifts over 140 years may partly explain this increase in species richness, although the low numbers of Whymper...
Altitudinal limits of life in subtropical mountains: what do we know?
Present knowledge of the highest altitudinal limits of organisms and their causes is reviewed. Discussion focuses on subtropical latitudes (20-30°) and altitudes above 4000 m. Methods used in high-altitude studies are limited by logistical and biological factors. Use of a comparative convergence-divergence method is encouraged. Terms such as "extreme" are inappropriate in the description of environments with moderate temperature amplitude, positive water balance, and rich soils but low atmospheric pressure. Characters such as slow productivity, frugal behavior, stress tolerance, crypts, large number of stomata, greater development of lungs and circulatory systems, hygromorphy, heliomorphy, protection, insularity, high diversity , and a decreasing plant/animal ratio are considered typical of organisms in these altitudes (hypsophily). Hypotheses explaining some of the characters are discussed. METHODS and death is easily tipped by human intervention.
Distribution and conservation of Montserrat's endemic flora
2008
List of fields for data collection in the presence/absence GIS layer 4.1.1 Comparison of variable contribution to Maxent model predictions 4.1.2 Test AUC values for cross validation for E. montserratense 4.4.1 Extent of Occurrence and Area of Occupancy thresholds for IUCN threat categories 4.4.2 IUCN Script output for E. montserratense and R. buxifolia Figure Page 1.1 Epidendrum montserratense 1.2 Rodeletia buxifolia 2.1.1 Location of Montserrat in the Lesser Antilles 2.1.2 Map of Montserrat showing exclusion zone 2.2.1 Habitat degradation in the Silver Hills 2.2.2 Volcanic lahars in the Belham Valley 3.1.2 The neighbourhood for a given sampling unit 4.1.3 Graph of Maxent model test and training gain for R. buxifolia 4.1.4 Graph of Maxent model test and training gain for E. montserratense 4.1.5 Prediction map for E. montserratense 4.1.6 Prediction map for R. buxifolia 4.1.7 Binary prediction map of presence/absence for E. montserratense 4.1.8 Binary prediction map of presence/absence for R. buxifolia 4.1.9 Binary prediction map for E. montserratense and R. buxifolia 4.1.10 Binary prediction map showing areas of proposed development 4.2.1 Proportion of total E. montserratense recordings at each disturbance levels 4.2.2 Proportion of E. montserratense presence to absence points recorded within each disturbance level 4.2.3 Proportion of E. montserratense presence points against mean altitude for each gazetteer 4.2.4 Proportion of E. montserratense presence points against mean longitude for each gazetteer 4.2.5 Proportion of total R. buxifolia recordings at each level of disturbance 4.2.6 Proportion of R. buxifolia presence to absence points at each disturbance level 4.2.7 Proportion of R. buxifolia presence points against mean altitude for each gazetteer 4.2.8 Proportion of R. buxifolia presence points against mean latitude for each gazetteer 4.3.1 Boxplots of light levels for fruit presence/absence in R. buxifolia 4.3.2 Graph of the logistic model fruit presence ~ log light List of Figures, Tables and Appendices Appendices Page A Additional Findings B Map of Montserrat showing areas of data collection and recommendations C List of fields for data collection using the Species Assessment Point GIS layer D Model outputs and additional Results E Important Plant Area selection criteria
Global Change Biology, 2010
The expected upward shift of trees due to climate warming is supposed to be a major threat to range-restricted high-altitude species by shrinking the area of their suitable habitats. Our projections show that areas of endemism of five taxonomic groups (vascular plants, snails, spiders, butterflies, and beetles) in the Austrian Alps will, on average, experience a 77% habitat loss even under the weakest climate change scenario (+1.8 °C by 2100). The amount of habitat loss is positively related with the pooled endemic species richness (species from all five taxonomic groups) and with the richness of endemic vascular plants, snails, and beetles. Owing to limited postglacial migration, hotspots of high-altitude endemics are situated in rather low peripheral mountain chains of the Alps, which have not been glaciated during the Pleistocene. There, tree line expansion disproportionally reduces habitats of high-altitude species. Such legacies of climate history, which may aggravate extinction risks under future climate change have to be expected for many temperate mountain ranges.
Disproportional risk for habitat loss of high-altitude endemic species under climate change
Global Change Biology, 2011
The expected upward shift of trees due to climate warming is supposed to be a major threat to range-restricted highaltitude species by shrinking the area of their suitable habitats. Our projections show that areas of endemism of five taxonomic groups (vascular plants, snails, spiders, butterflies, and beetles) in the Austrian Alps will, on average, experience a 77% habitat loss even under the weakest climate change scenario (11.8 1C by 2100). The amount of habitat loss is positively related with the pooled endemic species richness (species from all five taxonomic groups) and with the richness of endemic vascular plants, snails, and beetles. Owing to limited postglacial migration, hotspots of highaltitude endemics are situated in rather low peripheral mountain chains of the Alps, which have not been glaciated during the Pleistocene. There, tree line expansion disproportionally reduces habitats of high-altitude species. Such legacies of climate history, which may aggravate extinction risks under future climate change have to be expected for many temperate mountain ranges.
Journal of Vegetation Science, 2007
Over the last 20 years, several studies comparing recent survey data with historical data from the early 20th century documented an increase in species numbers on high mountain summits of the European Alps. This increase has more or less explicitly been attributed to an upward migration of plant species due to anthropogenic climate warming. However, a reconsideration of the historical and recent data has revealed that more than 90% of the recent species occurrences on mountain summits concern species that were already present at the same or even at higher altitudes within the study region at the time of the historical surveys. This finding suggests that suitable habitats already occurred on these summits under the mesoclimatic conditions prevailing at the beginning of the 20th century and that these habitats were, at least in part, occupied by these plant species. Consequently, the observed increase in species number during the last century does not require the additional temperature increase due to anthropogenic climate change. We therefore consider the phenomenon of increasing species number on high mountain summits to be primarily the result of a natural dispersal process that was triggered by the temperature increase at the end of the Little Ice Age and that is still in progress mostly due to the dispersal limitation of the species involved. Since both the natural dispersal process and a potential upward migration due to anthropogenic climate warming would take place at the same time, we suggest seeding and transplanting experiments in order to assess their respective roles in the increase in species number on mountain summits.