Elevational shifts in tree community composition in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest related to climate change

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

  • Rodrigo Scarton Bergamin
  • Vinicius Augusto Galvao Bastazini
  • Adriane Esquivel-Muelbert
  • Kauane Maiara Bordin
  • Joice Klipel
  • Vanderlei Júlio Debastiani
  • Alexander Christian Vibrans
  • Rafael Loyola
  • Sandra Cristina Müller
Question
Climate change induces shifts in species distributions, ultimately changing community composition. Mountains are especially sensitive to climate change, and tree species are predicted to move towards higher elevations, but observed changes are not always unidirectional. The diversity and complexity of tropical and subtropical systems limits our understanding of climate-induced responses of subtropical mountain forests. Here, we investigated migration trends in tree community composition along an elevational gradient, and between the transition from lowland to montane forests in subtropical forests.
Location
Brazilian Atlantic Forest.
Methods
We used thermal affiliations of 627 tree species to calculate community temperature scores (CTS) for different life-history stages of trees in 96 permanent plots. We compared CTS of different life-history stages across space and time.
Results
Most tree communities (58%) did not show a significant difference of CTS between life-history stages, indicating a non-migration trend. On the other hand, 27% of tree communities showed upward migration and 15% downward migration. Upward migration was more common in montane forests, and downward migration in lowland forests. Our temporal analysis shows significant changes in CTS values for juvenile communities with 0.36°C decrease in lowland forests and 0.34°C increase in montane forests.
Conclusions
Contrasting results between lowland and montane forest communities indicate that the transition zone influences migration patterns and may reflect differences in species’ thermal limitations, as well as by non-thermal factors such as biotic interactions. Our findings provide the first evidence of climate change-induced community shifts in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. We demonstrated that upward migration trends were predominantly observed in montane–upper mountain forests, while downward migrations were noted in lowland–submontane forests. The thermophilization of montane forests may suggest an increased risk of reduction for cold-demanding species under climate change scenarios.
Original languageEnglish
Article numbere13289
JournalJournal of Vegetation Science
Volume35
Issue number4
Number of pages10
ISSN1100-9233
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 01.07.2024
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Author(s). Journal of Vegetation Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Association for Vegetation Science.

DOI

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