Climate velocities and species tracking in global mountain regions

Mountain ranges harbor high concentrations of endemic species and are indispensable refugia for lowland species under anthropogenic climate change1,2. Forecasting biodiversity redistribution hinges on assessing whether species can track shifting isotherms as climate warms3,4. However, a global analysis of isotherm shift velocities along elevation gradients is hindered by the scarcity of weather stations in mountainous regions5. We address this by mapping the lapse rate of temperature (LRT) across mountain regions globally using satellite data (SLRT) and laws of thermodynamics to account for water vapour6 (i.e., the moist adiabatic lapse rate: MALRT). Dividing the rate of surface warming from 1971 to 2020 by either the SLRT or MALRT, we provide the first maps of vertical isotherm shift velocities. We identify 17 mountain regions with exceptionally high vertical isotherm shift velocities (> 11.67 m/yr for the SLRT, > 8.25 m/yr for the MALRT), predominantly in dry areas but also in w..., Please read the Methods in Chan et. al., 2024 for details., Key datasets are in /data/MALRT_SLRT_Climate_Velocity Software:Python 3.6.10 & 3.7.9 (with jupyter notebook environment)Wolfram Mathematica 12R 4.04(The software applications are compatible with MacOS, Windows, and Linux operating systems, making them accessible across various environments. To download and install the software, users can simply follow the instructions provided by the software providers. The installation time may vary based on the hardware setup of each individual system.)(Suggested hardware specification: RAM > 16gb; suggested storage > 16gb) The necessary Python and R packages are directly listed within each script. Users has to install these packages before running the script., # Chan et al., Climate Velocities and Species Tracking in Global Mountain Regions (2024) \[Access this dataset on Dryad] This data collection accompanies the Chan et al., 2024 paper which evaluates climate velocities in global mountain regions and compares these with species range shift velocities. It includes climatic, geographic, and biological data used in the study. ## Description of the data and file structure The dataset is organized into two main folders: '***data***' and ***'scripts***'. ### **'*data*' folder** The 'data' folder contains datasets generated for the study's figures and intermediate products. Maps in this collection are primarily stored in two formats: TIFF and CSV matrix. Both formats generally adhere to a global resolution of 360 x 720 (0.5 degrees). \#Datasets that are not directly readable are likely intended for use with scripts for further figure production and not for direct human interpretation. These datasets are provided to facilitate reproducibilit...