Late Quaternary fluctuation in upper range limit of trees shapes endemic flora diversity on the Tibetan Plateau.

ABSTRACT: The influence of paleoclimate in shaping current biodiversity pattern is widely acknowledged. However, it remains unclear how the upper paleo-range limit of trees, which dictated the habitat of endemic alpine species, affects the variability in endemic alpine species composition across space over the Tibetan Plateau. We integrated satellite-derived upper range limit of trees, dendrochronological data, and fossil pollen records with a paleoclimate dataset in a climate-driven predictive model to reconstruct the spatio-temporal upper range limit of trees at 100-year intervals since the Last Glacial Maximum. Our results show that trees distributed at the lowest elevations during the Last Glacial Maximum (~3426 m), and ascended to the highest elevations during the Holocene Climatic Optimum (~41

SUBMITTER: Xu J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11842749 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature