Traits and functions of alpine plant communities respond strongly but not always sufficiently to in situ climate change.

ABSTRACT: Increasing climate warming and summer droughts are known to affect mountain plant communities, their functional traits and life strategies. However, little is known about how strongly and efficiently communities respond to climate change, and how tightly plant responses are linked to responses of ecosystem functions. To test this, we transplanted alpine plant communities to subalpine conditions, exposing them to warming and drying. We compared these transplanted communities to alpine and subalpine control communities to assess their responses. Five years after transplantation, we found slower growth (e.g. lower leaf nitrogen) and more outsourcing strategies (e.g. lower specific root length) in the warmer and drier subalpine control communities compared to the alpine controls, probably due

SUBMITTER: Bektas B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12780316 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature