Schachen vegetation and trait composition

Leveraging the oldest historical dataset of vegetation change in the Bavarian Alps, Germany, we address how environmental conditions, vegetation composition, and functional diversity in the calcareous grasslands of the Schachen region have changed across different elevational ranges over an 83-year timeframe. We document changes in regional average temperature and precipitation. We use indicator values (IV) for species’ ecological preferences and their palatability to grazers to infer local conditions (temperature, soil moisture/fertility, and grazing regime). We further estimate changes in temporal beta-diversity and functional trait community composition between historical (1936) and contemporary (2019) surveys in two elevational (subalpine and alpine) belts.本研究依托德国巴伐利亚阿尔卑斯山区现存最古老的植被变化历史数据集，聚焦沙亨（Schachen）区域石灰岩草原的环境条件、植被组成与功能多样性，在83年的时间跨度内随不同海拔梯度的演变规律。研究同时记录了区域平均气温与降水量的变化情况。借助物种生态偏好与对植食动物适口性的指示值（Indicator Values, IV），本研究推断当地的环境条件，包括气温、土壤湿度/肥力以及放牧制度。此外，本研究还基于1936年的历史调查与2019年的当代调查数据，估算了两条海拔带（亚高山带与高山带）内的时间尺度β多样性与功能性状群落组成的变化。