Integrating demography and distribution modeling for the iconic Leontopodium alpinum Colm. in the Romanian Carpathians.

ABSTRACT: Both climate change and human exploitation are major threats to plant life in mountain environments. One species that may be particularly sensitive to both of these stressors is the iconic alpine flower edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum Colm.). Its populations have declined across Europe due to over-collection for its highly prized flowers. Edelweiss is still subject to harvesting across the Romanian Carpathians, but no study has measured to what extent populations are vulnerable to anthropogenic change.Here, we estimated the effects of climate and human disturbance on the fitness of edelweiss. We combined demographic measurements with predictions of future range distribution under climate change to assess the viability of populations across Romania.We found that per capita and per-ar

SUBMITTER: Maghiar LM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8462177 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature