Contrasting changes in diversity

Questions: Climate change may have different effects on species richness depending on regional climates, soil types and the functional composition of local communities.  
Location: Subalpine belt of the Grandes Rousses (Alps) and Sancy mountain ranges (The Massif Central), France.
Methods: We compared changes in species richness in response to recent climate change in communities from two mountain ranges subjected to contrasting environmental conditions, with a more continental climate and drier soils in the Alps than in the Massif Central. Vegetation composition of 189 and 157 plots were assessed in 1997 and 2017-2018 in the Alps and 1988-1989 and 2022 in the Massif Central, respectively. Five species traits (height, lateral spread, leaf area, specific leaf area and leaf dry matter content) were measured on 108 and 144 species, respectively. Changes in vegetation composition and species richness along spatial environmental gradients were analysed with correspondence analyses at the San..., Vegetation releves at two dates in two mountain ranges. ANOVAs and PCA were used to analyze the data., , # Contrasting change in diversity

**Principal investigator (or person responsible for collecting the data):**

Richard Michalet, University of Bordeaux, France, [[e-mail]](mailto:[e-mail])

**Date of data collection:**

1988, 1989, 1997, 2017, 2018, 2022

**Information about the geographic location of data collection:**

Isère and Puy-de-Dôme departments, France

**The file, created in 2024, includes 3 sheets :**

1.     Plant traits:  PCA on plant traits (Fig. 3).

2.     Richness Alps: Vegetation composition at Alpe d’Huez (Fig. 4 & 5).

3.     Richness Sancy: Vegetation composition at Sancy (Fig. 5 & 6).

**There are no restrictions on the data.**

**Description of methods for data collection or generation**:

Vegetation composition was sampled using quadrat sampling (Michalet et al. 2002, Arctic, Antarctic & Alpine Research) in the Alps and Braun-Blanquet’s method at Sancy.

Plant traits measurements were done following Michal...