Climate change is expected to cause mountain species to shift their ranges to higher elevations. Due to the decreasing amounts of habitats with increasing elevation, such shifts are likely to increase their extinction risk. Heterogeneous mountain topography, however, may reduce this risk by providing microclimatic conditions that can buffer macroclimatic warming or provide nearby refugia. As aspect strongly influences the local microclimate, we here assess whether shifts from warm south\uffe2\uff80\uff90exposed aspects to cool north\uffe2\uff80\uff90exposed aspects in response to climate change can compensate for an upward shift into cooler elevations.
LocationSwitzerland, Swiss Alps.
MethodsWe built ensemble distribution models using high\uffe2\uff80\uff90resolution climate data for two mountain\uffe2\uff80\uff90dwelling viviparous ectotherms, the Alpine salamander and the Common lizard, and projected them into various future scenarios to gain insights into distributional changes. We further compared elevation and aspect (northness) of current and predicted future locations to analyse preferences and future shifts.
ResultsFuture ranges were consistently decreasing for the lizard, but for the salamander they were highly variable, depending on the climate scenario and threshold rule. Aspect preferences were elevation\uffe2\uff80\uff90dependent: warmer, south\uffe2\uff80\uff90exposed microclimates were clearly preferred at higher compared to lower elevations. In terms of presence and future locations, we observed both elevational upward shifts and northward shifts in aspect. Under future conditions, the shift to cooler north\uffe2\uff80\uff90exposed aspects was particularly pronounced at already warmer lower elevations.
Main conclusionsFor our study species, shifts in aspect and elevation are complementary strategies to mitigate climatic warming in the complex mountain topography. This complements the long\uffe2\uff80\uff90standing view of elevational upward shift being their only option to move into areas with suitable future climate. High\uffe2\uff80\uff90resolution climate data are critical in heterogeneous environments to identify microrefugia and thereby improving future impact assessments of climate change.
", "keywords": ["0106 biological sciences", "0301 basic medicine", "570", "4290733-0", "elevation", "aspect", "Modellierung", "4077275-5", "ddc:900", "01 natural sciences", "4128128-7", "10127 Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies", "03 medical and health sciences", "4170297-9", "Schweizer Alpen", "Anthropogene Klima\u00e4nderung", "Wechselwarme", "aspect; climate change; ectotherms; microrefugia; mountain topography; Salamandra atra; species distribution modelling; Switzerland; thresholds; Zootoca vivipara", "4189352-9", "shift", "15. Life on land", "reptile", "1105 Ecology", " Evolution", " Behavior and Systematics", "climate change", "Geschichte und Geografie", "900", "13. Climate action", "Anpassung", "570 Life sciences; biology", "590 Animals (Zoology)", "amphibian", "[SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://air.unimi.it/bitstream/2434/785568/2/feldmeier%202020%20divers%20distrib.pdf"}, {"href": "https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/ddi.13146"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.13146"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Diversity%20and%20Distributions", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/ddi.13146", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/ddi.13146", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/ddi.13146"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2020-08-26T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/j.1365-2486.2012.02798.x", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-09-20T16:17:38Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2012-07-28", "title": "Increasing Soil Methane Sink Along A 120-Year Afforestation Chronosequence Is Driven By Soil Moisture", "description": "AbstractUpland soils are important sinks for atmospheric methane (CH4), a process essentially driven by methanotrophic bacteria. Soil CH4 uptake often depends on land use, with afforestation generally increasing the soil CH4 sink. However, the mechanisms driving these changes are not well understood to date. We measured soil CH4 and N2O fluxes along an afforestation chronosequence with Norway spruce (Picea abies L.) established on an extensively grazed subalpine pasture. Our experimental design included forest stands with ages ranging from 25 to >120\uffc2\uffa0years and included a factorial cattle urine addition treatment to test for the sensitivity of soil CH4 uptake to N application. Mean CH4 uptake significantly increased with stand age on all sampling dates. In contrast, CH4 oxidation by sieved soils incubated in the laboratory did not show a similar age dependency. Soil CH4 uptake was unrelated to soil N status (but cattle urine additions stimulated N2O emission). Our data indicated that soil CH4 uptake in older forest stands was driven by reduced soil water content, which resulted in a facilitated diffusion of atmospheric CH4 into soils. The lower soil moisture likely resulted from increased interception and/or evapotranspiration in the older forest stands. This mechanism contrasts alternative explanations focusing on nitrogen dynamics or the composition of methanotrophic communities, although these factors also might be at play. Our findings further imply that the current dramatic increase in forested area increases CH4 uptake in alpine regions.
", "keywords": ["2300 General Environmental Science", "2. Zero hunger", "10127 Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies", "13. Climate action", "2304 Environmental Chemistry", "570 Life sciences; biology", "590 Animals (Zoology)", "2306 Global and Planetary Change", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "2303 Ecology", "6. Clean water"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2012.02798.x"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Global%20Change%20Biology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/j.1365-2486.2012.02798.x", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/j.1365-2486.2012.02798.x", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2012.02798.x"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2012-09-07T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1371/journal.pone.0029642", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-09-20T16:18:03Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2012-01-04", "title": "Carbon Stocks And Fluxes In Tropical Lowland Dipterocarp Rainforests In Sabah, Malaysian Borneo", "description": "Deforestation in the tropics is an important source of carbon C release to the atmosphere. To provide a sound scientific base for efforts taken to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD+) good estimates of C stocks and fluxes are important. We present components of the C balance for selectively logged lowland tropical dipterocarp rainforest in the Malua Forest Reserve of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Total organic C in this area was 167.9 Mg C ha\u207b\u00b9\u00b13.8 (SD), including: Total aboveground (TAGC: 55%; 91.9 Mg C ha\u207b\u00b9\u00b12.9 SEM) and belowground carbon in trees (TBGC: 10%; 16.5 Mg C ha\u207b\u00b9\u00b10.5 SEM), deadwood (8%; 13.2 Mg C ha\u207b\u00b9\u00b13.5 SEM) and soil organic matter (SOM: 24%; 39.6 Mg C ha\u207b\u00b9\u00b10.9 SEM), understory vegetation (3%; 5.1 Mg C ha\u207b\u00b9\u00b11.7 SEM), standing litter (<1%; 0.7 Mg C ha\u207b\u00b9\u00b10.1 SEM) and fine root biomass (<1%; 0.9 Mg C ha\u207b\u00b9\u00b10.1 SEM). Fluxes included litterfall, a proxy for leaf net primary productivity (4.9 Mg C ha\u207b\u00b9 yr\u207b\u00b9\u00b10.1 SEM), and soil respiration, a measure for heterotrophic ecosystem respiration (28.6 Mg C ha\u207b\u00b9 yr\u207b\u00b9\u00b11.2 SEM). The missing estimates necessary to close the C balance are wood net primary productivity and autotrophic respiration.Twenty-two years after logging TAGC stocks were 28% lower compared to unlogged forest (128 Mg C ha\u207b\u00b9\u00b113.4 SEM); a combined weighted average mean reduction due to selective logging of -57.8 Mg C ha\u207b\u00b9 (with 95% CI -75.5 to -40.2). Based on the findings we conclude that selective logging decreased the dipterocarp stock by 55-66%. Silvicultural treatments may have the potential to accelerate the recovery of dipterocarp C stocks to pre-logging levels.", "keywords": ["0106 biological sciences", "1000 Multidisciplinary", "Tropical Climate", "Science", "Rain", "Q", "R", "1100 General Agricultural and Biological Sciences", "Biodiversity", "15. Life on land", "01 natural sciences", "Carbon", "Dipterocarpaceae", "Trees", "10127 Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies", "Soil", "1300 General Biochemistry", " Genetics and Molecular Biology", "Borneo", "Seedlings", "13. Climate action", "570 Life sciences; biology", "590 Animals (Zoology)", "Medicine", "Biomass", "Research Article"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Saner, Philippe, Loh, Yen Yee, Ong, Robert C., Hector, Andy,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0029642"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/PLoS%20ONE", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1371/journal.pone.0029642", "name": "item", "description": "10.1371/journal.pone.0029642", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1371/journal.pone.0029642"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2012-01-03T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1890/06-2100.1", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-09-20T16:18:23Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2007-12-11", "title": "Interactive Effects Of Plant Species Diversity And Elevated Co2 On Soil Biota And Nutrient Cycling", "description": "Terrestrial ecosystems consist of mutually dependent producer and decomposer subsystems, but not much is known on how their interactions are modified by plant diversity and elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Factorially manipulating grassland plant species diversity and atmospheric CO2 concentrations for five years, we tested whether high diversity or elevated CO2 sustain larger or more active soil communities, affect soil aggregation, water dynamics, or nutrient cycling, and whether plant diversity and elevated CO2 interact. Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) pools, symbiotic N2 fixation, plant litter quality, soil moisture, soil physical structure, soil nematode, collembola and acari communities, soil microbial biomass and microflora community structure (phospholipid fatty acid [PLFA] profiles), soil enzyme activities, and rates of C fluxes to soils were measured. No increases in soil C fluxes or the biomass, number, or activity of soil organisms were detected at high plant diversity; soil H2O and aggregation remained unaltered. Elevated CO2 affected the ecosystem primarily by improving plant and soil water status by reducing leaf conductance, whereas changes in C cycling appeared to be of subordinate importance. Slowed-down soil drying cycles resulted in lower soil aggregation under elevated CO2. Collembola benefited from extra soil moisture under elevated CO2, whereas other faunal groups did not respond. Diversity effects and interactions with elevated CO2 may have been absent because soil responses were mainly driven by community-level processes such as rates of organic C input and water use; these drivers were not changed by plant diversity manipulations, possibly because our species diversity gradient did not extend below five species and because functional type composition remained unaltered. Our findings demonstrate that global change can affect soil aggregation, and we advocate that soil aggregation should be considered as a dynamic property that may respond to environmental changes and feed back on other ecosystem functions.", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "Ecology", "Evolution", "Nitrogen", "Water", "Phosphorus", "Biodiversity", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "Carbon Dioxide", "Plants", "15. Life on land", "Carbon", "10127 Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies", "Soil", "1105 Ecology", " Evolution", " Behavior and Systematics", "Oxygen Consumption", "Behavior and Systematics", "Species Specificity", "13. Climate action", "570 Life sciences; biology", "590 Animals (Zoology)", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "Biomass", "Ecosystem", "Soil Microbiology"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1890/06-2100.1"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Ecology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1890/06-2100.1", "name": "item", "description": "10.1890/06-2100.1", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1890/06-2100.1"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2007-12-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10045/75093", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-09-20T16:21:36Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2018-04-16", "title": "Intransitive competition is common across five major taxonomic groups and is driven by productivity, competitive rank and functional traits", "description": "AbstractCompetition can be fully hierarchical or intransitive, and this degree of hierarchy is driven by multiple factors, including environmental conditions, the functional traits of the species involved or the topology of competition networks. Studies simultaneously analysing these drivers of competition hierarchy are rare. Additionally, organisms compete either directly or via interference competition for resources or space, within a local neighbourhood or across the habitat. Therefore, the drivers of competition could change accordingly and depend on the taxa studied.
We performed the first multi\uffe2\uff80\uff90taxon study on pairwise competition across major taxonomic groups, including experiments with vascular plants, mosses, saprobic fungi, aquatic protists and soil bacteria. We evaluated how general is competition intransitivity from the pairwise competition matrix including all species and also for each possible three\uffe2\uff80\uff90species combination (triplets). We then examined which species were likely to engage in competitive loops and the effects of environmental conditions, competitive rank and functional traits on intransitive competition.
We found some degree of competition intransitivity in all taxa studied, with 38% to 5% of triplets being intransitive. Variance in competitive rank between species and more fertile conditions strongly reduced intransitivity, with triplets composed of species differing widely in their competitive ranks much less likely to be intransitive.
Including functional traits of the species involved more than doubled the variation explained compared to models including competitive rank only. Both trait means and variance within triplets affected the odds of them being intransitive. However, the traits responsible and the direction of trait effects varied widely between taxa, suggesting that traits can have a wide variety of effects on competition.
Synthesis. We evaluated the drivers of competition across multiple taxa and showed that productivity and competitive rank are fundamental drivers of intransitivity. We also showed that not only the functional traits of each species, but also those of the accompanying species, determine competition intransitivity. Intransitive competition is common across multiple taxa but can dampen under fertile conditions or for those species with large variance in their competitive abilities. This provides a first step towards predicting the prevalence of intransitive competition in natural communities.