Hawaiian Treeline Ecotones: Implications for Plant Community Conservation under Climate Change.

ABSTRACT: Species within tropical alpine treeline ecotones are predicted to be especially sensitive to climate variability because this zone represents tree species' altitudinal limits. Hawaiian volcanoes have distinct treeline ecotones driven by trade wind inversions. The local climate is changing, but little is known about how this influences treeline vegetation. To predict future impacts of climate variability on treelines, we must define the range of variation in treeline ecotone characteristics. Previous studies highlighted an abrupt transition between subalpine grasslands and wet forest on windward Haleakalā, but this site does not represent the diversity of treeline ecotones among volcanoes, lava substrates, and local climatic conditions. To capture this diversity, we used data from 225 plots

SUBMITTER: Ainsworth A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10780311 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature