1. Variation in Alpine Plant Diversity and Soil Temperatures in Two Mountain Landscapes of South Patagonia
- Author
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Héctor Alejandro Bahamonde, Magalí Pérez Flores, Juan Manuel Cellini, Lucas H. Monelos, Rosina Soler, Pablo Luis Peri, María Vanessa Lencinas, and Guillermo Martínez Pastur
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,Multivariate statistics ,Topography ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,Alpine plant ,Topografía ,Forests ,Temperatura del Suelo ,01 natural sciences ,Vegetación Alpina ,Sub Antartic Forest ,Soil Temperature ,foothill grasslands ,Tierra del Fuego ,sub-Antarctic forests ,Biology (General) ,Ecology ,Ecological Modeling ,Baseline (sea) ,Temperature ,Alpine Vegetation ,Temperatura ,Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous) ,Bosques ,Geography ,Praderas Alpinas ,Long Term Experiments ,Tierras Altas ,Highlands ,Experimentos de Largo Plazo ,Global Observational Research Initiative in Alpine Environments (GLORIA) ,QH301-705.5 ,Climate Change ,Santa Cruz (Argentina) ,Región Patagónica ,010603 evolutionary biology ,Tierra ,Latitude ,Alpine Grasslands ,Ciencias Agrarias ,Growth Period ,Southern Hemisphere ,Período de Crecimiento ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,Nature and Landscape Conservation ,Santa Cruz ,Elevation ,Cambio Climático ,Bosques Sub Antárticos ,GLORIA approach ,Iniciativa Mundial de Investigación Observacional en Entornos Alpinos ,Physical geography ,Species richness ,mountain vegetation ,Tierra del Fuego (Argentina) - Abstract
Alpine environments and their temporal changes are rarely studied at high latitudes in the southern hemisphere. We analyzed alpine plants, soil temperatures, and growing-season length in mountains of two landscapes of South Patagonia (46° to 56° SL): three summits (814–1085 m a.s.l) surrounded by foothill grasslands in Santa Cruz province (SC), and four summits (634–864 m a.s.l.) in sub-Antarctic forests of Tierra del Fuego province (TF). Sampling followed the protocolized methodology of the Global Observational Research Initiative in Alpine Environments (GLORIA). Factors were topography (elevation and cardinal aspect) and time (baseline vs. re-sampling for plants, five annual periods for temperatures), assessed by univariate and multivariate tests. Plant composition reflected the lowland surrounding landscapes, with only 9 mountain species on 52 totals in SC and 3 on 30 in TF. Richness was higher in re-sampling than baseline, being assemblages more influenced by aspect than elevation. Mean annual soil temperature and growing-season length, which varied with topography, were related to the Multivariate El Niño Southern Oscillation Index (MEI) but did not show clear warming trends over time. We highlight the importance of long-term studies in mountainous regions of extreme southern latitudes, where factors other than warming (e.g., extreme climate events) explain variations., Laboratorio de Investigaciones en Madera
- Published
- 2021