Thermal niche traits of high alpine plant species and communities across the tropical Andes and their vulnerability to global warming

Aim

The Climate Variability Hypothesis (CVH) predicts that locations with reduced seasonal temperature variation select for species with narrower thermal ranges. Here we (1) test the CVH by assessing the effect of latitude and elevation on the thermal ranges of Andean vascular plant species and communities, and (2) assess tropical alpine plants vulnerability to warming based on their thermal traits.

Location

Tropical Andes

Taxon

Vascular plants

Methods

Temperature data for 505 vascular plant species from alpine communities on 49 summits, were extracted from 29,627 geo-referenced occurrences. Species thermal niche traits (TNTs) were estimated using bootstrapping for: minimum temperature, optimum (mean) temperature, and breadth (maximum-minimum). Plant community-weighted scores were estimated using the TNTs of their constituent species. CVH was tested for species, biogeographic species groups and communities. Vulnerability to global warming was assessed for species, b...

研究目标
气候变异性假说（Climate Variability Hypothesis，CVH）提出：季节温度变异性降低的生境，会筛选出具有更窄温度耐受范围的物种。本研究（1）通过分析纬度与海拔对安第斯维管植物（vascular plants）物种及群落的温度耐受范围的影响，对该假说进行验证；（2）基于热带高山植物的温度性状，评估其对全球变暖的脆弱性。

研究区域
热带安第斯地区

研究类群
维管植物（vascular plants）

研究方法
从29627条带地理坐标的物种出现记录中，提取了49座山峰高山群落内505种维管植物的温度数据。通过自助法（bootstrapping）估算得到物种的温度生态位性状（thermal niche traits，TNTs）：最低温度、最适（平均）温度以及温度幅（最高温度与最低温度的差值）。基于群落内各物种的温度生态位性状，计算得到群落的加权平均得分。分别在物种、生物地理物种类群以及群落三个层面上对气候变异性假说进行验证。针对物种、[原文内容截断]全球变暖的脆弱性进行评估。