Specialized meltwater biodiversity persists despite widespread deglaciation.

ABSTRACT: Glaciers are important drivers of environmental heterogeneity and biological diversity across mountain landscapes. Worldwide, glaciers are receding rapidly due to climate change, with important consequences for biodiversity in mountain ecosystems. However, the effects of glacier loss on biodiversity have never been quantified across a mountainous region, primarily due to a lack of adequate data at large spatial and temporal scales. Here, we combine high-resolution biological and glacier change (ca. 1850-2015) datasets for Glacier National Park, USA, to test the prediction that glacier retreat reduces biodiversity in mountain ecosystems through the loss of uniquely adapted meltwater stream species. We identified a specialized cold-water invertebrate community restricted to the highest eleva

SUBMITTER: Muhlfeld CC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7275702 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature