Richness of plant communities plays a larger role than climate in determining responses of species richness to climate change

1. Experimental warming in situ suggests that warming could lead to a loss of biodiversity. However, species that remain in situ and experience climate change will interact with species tracking climate change, which could also affect patterns of biodiversity. The relative contribution of species gains and losses to net changes in species richness is still unclear.
2. We use transplanted plant communities to test the hypothesis that both the change in climate and ecological communities tracking climate change will influence how species richness responds to climate change. Three intact alpine plant communities were reciprocally transplanted to create scenarios in which species experienced warmer and wetter conditions (transferred to lower elevations) and cooler and drier conditions (transferred to higher elevations) over 10 years on the Tibetan Plateau. Communities transplanted into the same elevation as controls represent species tracking climate change.
3. Transferring to lower eleva...