Think globally, measure locally: The MIREN standardized protocol for monitoring plant species distributions along elevation gradients
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In: Ecology and Evolution, Vol. 12, No. 2, e8590, 14.02.2022.
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Think globally, measure locally
T2 - The MIREN standardized protocol for monitoring plant species distributions along elevation gradients
AU - Haider, Sylvia
AU - Lembrechts, Jonas J.
AU - McDougall, Keith
AU - Pauchard, Aníbal
AU - Alexander, Jake M.
AU - Barros, Agustina
AU - Cavieres, Lohengrin A.
AU - Rashid, Irfan
AU - Rew, Lisa J.
AU - Aleksanyan, Alla
AU - Arévalo, José R.
AU - Aschero, Valeria
AU - Chisholm, Chelsea
AU - Clark, V. Ralph
AU - Clavel, Jan
AU - Daehler, Curtis
AU - Dar, Pervaiz A.
AU - Dietz, Hansjörg
AU - Dimarco, Romina D.
AU - Edwards, Peter
AU - Essl, Franz
AU - Fuentes-Lillo, Eduardo
AU - Guisan, Antoine
AU - Gwate, Onalenna
AU - Hargreaves, Anna L.
AU - Jakobs, Gabi
AU - Jiménez, Alejandra
AU - Kardol, Paul
AU - Kueffer, Christoph
AU - Larson, Christian
AU - Lenoir, Jonathan
AU - Lenzner, Bernd
AU - Padrón Mederos, Miguel A.
AU - Mihoc, Maritza
AU - Milbau, Ann
AU - Morgan, John W.
AU - Müllerová, Jana
AU - Naylor, Bridgett J.
AU - Nijs, Ivan
AU - Nuñez, Martin A.
AU - Otto, Rüdiger
AU - Preuk, Niels
AU - Ratier Backes, Amanda
AU - Reshi, Zafar A.
AU - Rumpf, Sabine B.
AU - Sandoya, Verónica
AU - Schroder, Mellesa
AU - Speziale, Karina L.
AU - Urbach, Davnah
AU - Valencia, Graciela
AU - Vandvik, Vigdis
AU - Vitková, Michaela
AU - Vorstenbosch, Tom
AU - Walker, Tom W.N.
AU - Walsh, Neville
AU - Wright, Genevieve
AU - Zong, Shengwei
AU - Seipel, Tim
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
PY - 2022/2/14
Y1 - 2022/2/14
N2 - Climate change and other global change drivers threaten plant diversity in mountains worldwide. A widely documented response to such environmental modifications is for plant species to change their elevational ranges. Range shifts are often idiosyncratic and difficult to generalize, partly due to variation in sampling methods. There is thus a need for a standardized monitoring strategy that can be applied across mountain regions to assess distribution changes and community turnover of native and non-native plant species over space and time. Here, we present a conceptually intuitive and standardized protocol developed by the Mountain Invasion Research Network (MIREN) to systematically quantify global patterns of native and non-native species distributions along elevation gradients and shifts arising from interactive effects of climate change and human disturbance. Usually repeated every five years, surveys consist of 20 sample sites located at equal elevation increments along three replicate roads per sampling region. At each site, three plots extend from the side of a mountain road into surrounding natural vegetation. The protocol has been successfully used in 18 regions worldwide from 2007 to present. Analyses of one point in time already generated some salient results, and revealed region-specific elevational patterns of native plant species richness, but a globally consistent elevational decline in non-native species richness. Non-native plants were also more abundant directly adjacent to road edges, suggesting that disturbed roadsides serve as a vector for invasions into mountains. From the upcoming analyses of time series, even more exciting results can be expected, especially about range shifts. Implementing the protocol in more mountain regions globally would help to generate a more complete picture of how global change alters species distributions. This would inform conservation policy in mountain ecosystems, where some conservation policies remain poorly implemented.
AB - Climate change and other global change drivers threaten plant diversity in mountains worldwide. A widely documented response to such environmental modifications is for plant species to change their elevational ranges. Range shifts are often idiosyncratic and difficult to generalize, partly due to variation in sampling methods. There is thus a need for a standardized monitoring strategy that can be applied across mountain regions to assess distribution changes and community turnover of native and non-native plant species over space and time. Here, we present a conceptually intuitive and standardized protocol developed by the Mountain Invasion Research Network (MIREN) to systematically quantify global patterns of native and non-native species distributions along elevation gradients and shifts arising from interactive effects of climate change and human disturbance. Usually repeated every five years, surveys consist of 20 sample sites located at equal elevation increments along three replicate roads per sampling region. At each site, three plots extend from the side of a mountain road into surrounding natural vegetation. The protocol has been successfully used in 18 regions worldwide from 2007 to present. Analyses of one point in time already generated some salient results, and revealed region-specific elevational patterns of native plant species richness, but a globally consistent elevational decline in non-native species richness. Non-native plants were also more abundant directly adjacent to road edges, suggesting that disturbed roadsides serve as a vector for invasions into mountains. From the upcoming analyses of time series, even more exciting results can be expected, especially about range shifts. Implementing the protocol in more mountain regions globally would help to generate a more complete picture of how global change alters species distributions. This would inform conservation policy in mountain ecosystems, where some conservation policies remain poorly implemented.
KW - Biology
KW - climate change
KW - invasive species
KW - long-term ecological monitoring
KW - MIREN
KW - mountain biodiversity
KW - Mountain Invasion Research Network
KW - range dynamics
KW - range expansions
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85125148422&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/01e4365d-00f3-36c5-9290-680e09224fa7/
U2 - 10.1002/ece3.8590
DO - 10.1002/ece3.8590
M3 - Journal articles
C2 - 35222963
AN - SCOPUS:85125148422
VL - 12
JO - Ecology and Evolution
JF - Ecology and Evolution
SN - 2045-7758
IS - 2
M1 - e8590
ER -