Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://dx.doi.org/10.25673/85988
Title: Think globally, measure locally : the MIREN standardized protocol for monitoring plant species distributions along elevation gradients
Author(s): Haider, Sylvia
Lembrechts, Jonas J.
McDougall, Keith
Pauchard, Aníbal
Alexander, Jake M.
Barros, Agustina
Cavieres, Lohengrin A.
Rashid, Irfan
Rew, Lisa J.
Aleksanyan, Alla
Arévalo, José R.
Aschero, Valeria
Chisholm, Chelsea
Clark, V. Ralph
Clavel, Jan
Daehler, Curtis
Dar, Pervaiz A.
Dietz, Hansjörg
Dimarco, Romina D.
Edwards, Peter
Essl, Franz
Fuentes-Lillo, Eduardo
Guisan, Antoine
Gwate, Onalenna
Hargreaves, Anna L.
Jakobs, Gabi
Jiménez, Alejandra
Kardol, Paul
Kueffer, Christoph
Larson, Christian
Lenoir, Jonathan
Lenzner, Bernd
Padrón Mederos, Miguel A.
Mihoc, Maritza
Milbau, Ann
Morgan, John W.
Müllerová, Jana
Naylor, Bridgett J.
Nijs, Ivan
Nuñez, Martin A.
Otto, Rüdiger
Preuk, Niels
Ratier Backes, Amanda
Reshi, Zafar A.
Rumpf, Sabine B.
Sandoya, Verónica
Schroder, Mellesa
Speziale, Karina L.
Urbach, Davnah
Valencia, Graciela
Vandvik, Vigdis
Vitková, Michaela
Vorstenbosch, Tom
Walker, Tom W. N.
Walsh, Neville
Wright, Genevieve
Zong, Shengwei
Seipel, Tim
Issue Date: 2022
Type: Article
Language: English
Abstract: Climate change and other global change drivers threaten plant diversity in mountains worldwide. A widely documented response to such environmental modifications is for plant species to change their elevational ranges. Range shifts are often idiosyncratic and difficult to generalize, partly due to variation in sampling methods. There is thus a need for a standardized monitoring strategy that can be applied across mountain regions to assess distribution changes and community turnover of native and non-native plant species over space and time. Here, we present a conceptually intuitive and standardized protocol developed by the Mountain Invasion Research Network (MIREN) to systematically quantify global patterns of native and non-native species distributions along elevation gradients and shifts arising from interactive effects of climate change and human disturbance. Usually repeated every five years, surveys consist of 20 sample sites located at equal elevation increments along three replicate roads per sampling region. At each site, three plots extend from the side of a mountain road into surrounding natural vegetation. The protocol has been successfully used in 18 regions worldwide from 2007 to present. Analyses of one point in time already generated some salient results, and revealed region-specific elevational patterns of native plant species richness, but a globally consistent elevational decline in non-native species richness. Non-native plants were also more abundant directly adjacent to road edges, suggesting that disturbed roadsides serve as a vector for invasions into mountains. From the upcoming analyses of time series, even more exciting results can be expected, especially about range shifts. Implementing the protocol in more mountain regions globally would help to generate a more complete picture of how global change alters species distributions. This would inform conservation policy in mountain ecosystems, where some conservation policies remain poorly implemented.
URI: https://opendata.uni-halle.de//handle/1981185920/87941
http://dx.doi.org/10.25673/85988
Open Access: Open access publication
License: (CC BY 4.0) Creative Commons Attribution 4.0(CC BY 4.0) Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
Sponsor/Funder: Publikationsfonds MLU
Journal Title: Ecology and evolution
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Publisher Place: [S.l.]
Volume: 12
Issue: 2
Original Publication: 10.1002/ece3.8590
Appears in Collections:Open Access Publikationen der MLU