A study of 183 plant species suggests that the elevational ranges of plants in the European Alps have shifted upslope and their average abundance has increased over the past several decades; the study also suggests that the speed of these changes decreased with increasing elevation, leading to increased range overlap and competition among species, with species at the highest elevations most likely to experience reductions in both range and abundance.
Article #17-13936: "Range dynamics of mountain plants decrease with elevation," by Sabine B. Rumpf et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: Sabine B. Rumpf, University of Vienna, AUSTRIA; tel: +43-1427754378, +43-680-1344884; e-mail: <sabine.rumpf@univie.ac.at>
###
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences