Dead end for endemic plant species? A biodiversity hotspot under pressure

Tropical high mountains are hosting important hot spots of biodiversity on small mostly remote areas. Recently, these precious ecosystems are under threat from land use change and climate change coupled with other local drivers of biodiversity loss. Along the East African Afroalpine ecosystems, area...

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Main Authors: Yohannes O. Kidane, Manuel Jonas Steinbauer, Carl Beierkuhnlein
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2019-07-01
Series:Global Ecology and Conservation
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989419300344
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spelling doaj-1067ba45c5fe4e4cb41cb9e6303fa10a2020-11-25T01:18:27ZengElsevierGlobal Ecology and Conservation2351-98942019-07-0119Dead end for endemic plant species? A biodiversity hotspot under pressureYohannes O. Kidane0Manuel Jonas Steinbauer1Carl Beierkuhnlein2Department of Biogeography, Bayreuth, University of Bayreuth, Germany; Corresponding author.GeoZentrum Nordbayern, Department of Geography and Geosciences, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Loewenichstr. 28, 91054, Erlangen, GermanyDepartment of Biogeography, Bayreuth, University of Bayreuth, Germany; Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research (BayCEER), Bayreuth, Germany; Geographical Institute Bayreuth (GIB), Bayreuth, GermanyTropical high mountains are hosting important hot spots of biodiversity on small mostly remote areas. Recently, these precious ecosystems are under threat from land use change and climate change coupled with other local drivers of biodiversity loss. Along the East African Afroalpine ecosystems, area above the treeline have experienced long-term spatial isolation and extreme climatic conditions (climatic factors such as low mean temperature, diurnal freeze-thaw cycles and other energy-related factors) which lead to the formation of “Sky Island” like ecosystems that are rich in endemics and unique. The Bale Mountains of Ethiopia are home to the largest tropical alpine plateau in Africa, with no spacious high summits that provide space for upward shift of species. Here, we studied plant species diversity and distribution patterns and tested potential future impacts of climate change induced warming on those patterns. This study is based on distribution data acquired from nested circular plots along an elevational gradient ranging from 2000m asl to the highest elevation (4385 m asl). We find hump shaped species richness patterns on both aspects, i.e. the dry north-eastern and the wet monsoon exposed south-western escarpment. In addition, the proportion of endemic species increases monotonically towards the summit on all slopes. Based on our data and literature, we project future climate impact for three regional warming scenarios (+2 °C, + 3 °C and + 4 °C). We quantify the future range of 114 endemic plant species based on their current occurrence records applying a lapse rate of 0.6 °C per 100 m of elevation. We find that future climate change would significantly alter species distribution patterns with pronounced impact on the unique ecosystems and endemic species restricted to the afroalpine plateau. Very likely this will be leading to the extinction of many endemic species. Keywords: Elevational gradients, Tropical mountains, Sky islands, Range shifts, Endemism, Extinctionhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989419300344
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Yohannes O. Kidane
Manuel Jonas Steinbauer
Carl Beierkuhnlein
spellingShingle Yohannes O. Kidane
Manuel Jonas Steinbauer
Carl Beierkuhnlein
Dead end for endemic plant species? A biodiversity hotspot under pressure
Global Ecology and Conservation
author_facet Yohannes O. Kidane
Manuel Jonas Steinbauer
Carl Beierkuhnlein
author_sort Yohannes O. Kidane
title Dead end for endemic plant species? A biodiversity hotspot under pressure
title_short Dead end for endemic plant species? A biodiversity hotspot under pressure
title_full Dead end for endemic plant species? A biodiversity hotspot under pressure
title_fullStr Dead end for endemic plant species? A biodiversity hotspot under pressure
title_full_unstemmed Dead end for endemic plant species? A biodiversity hotspot under pressure
title_sort dead end for endemic plant species? a biodiversity hotspot under pressure
publisher Elsevier
series Global Ecology and Conservation
issn 2351-9894
publishDate 2019-07-01
description Tropical high mountains are hosting important hot spots of biodiversity on small mostly remote areas. Recently, these precious ecosystems are under threat from land use change and climate change coupled with other local drivers of biodiversity loss. Along the East African Afroalpine ecosystems, area above the treeline have experienced long-term spatial isolation and extreme climatic conditions (climatic factors such as low mean temperature, diurnal freeze-thaw cycles and other energy-related factors) which lead to the formation of “Sky Island” like ecosystems that are rich in endemics and unique. The Bale Mountains of Ethiopia are home to the largest tropical alpine plateau in Africa, with no spacious high summits that provide space for upward shift of species. Here, we studied plant species diversity and distribution patterns and tested potential future impacts of climate change induced warming on those patterns. This study is based on distribution data acquired from nested circular plots along an elevational gradient ranging from 2000m asl to the highest elevation (4385 m asl). We find hump shaped species richness patterns on both aspects, i.e. the dry north-eastern and the wet monsoon exposed south-western escarpment. In addition, the proportion of endemic species increases monotonically towards the summit on all slopes. Based on our data and literature, we project future climate impact for three regional warming scenarios (+2 °C, + 3 °C and + 4 °C). We quantify the future range of 114 endemic plant species based on their current occurrence records applying a lapse rate of 0.6 °C per 100 m of elevation. We find that future climate change would significantly alter species distribution patterns with pronounced impact on the unique ecosystems and endemic species restricted to the afroalpine plateau. Very likely this will be leading to the extinction of many endemic species. Keywords: Elevational gradients, Tropical mountains, Sky islands, Range shifts, Endemism, Extinction
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989419300344
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