Climate change is leading to species loss on European mountain peaks

Vienna. As a result of rising temperatures, the flora on European mountain peaks has expanded - at the same time, species that specialize in high mountains are disappearing. This emerges from a study published in the specialist magazine “Science”. The results suggest that this phenomenon is due to climate change, as the study's lead author Johannes Wessely explains. “The data shows a clear connection between the extent of the local temperature increase on the individual peaks and the loss of species on these peaks,” said the researcher from the University of Vienna.

Until just a few decades ago, the regions above the Alpine tree line were not inhabitable by many plants. According to the scientists, rapidly rising temperatures since the 1980s have softened these cold limits and led to an increase in the number of species on European mountain peaks. Among other things, alpine meadow grass and arnica conquered the summits, as a study in the specialist magazine “Nature” from 2018 shows.

For the current study, data from permanent observation areas on 62 European mountain peaks were evaluated. The areas were examined four times between 2001 and 2022 as part of the global monitoring network Gloria, for example at Schrankogel in Tyrol, but also in Switzerland, the Pyrenees and the Georgian Caucasus.

The percentage of species that were not recovered in the next survey increased each time. Species adapted to cooler locations in particular disappeared. According to project manager Stefan Dullinger, these include species in the Alps such as glacier buttercup, single-flowered hornwort and Alpine man's shield.

According to the researchers, exactly what factors led to the local extinction of the species that specialize in the highest altitudes need to be investigated in more detail. In addition to increased temperatures, other influences could include decreasing water availability, the shortened duration of snow cover and competition from new species that have conquered the summits in recent years.