Recent changes and future challenges in alpine biodiversity – Conference session at the World Biodiversity Forum, Davos, June 2024
You may be interested in the session MONMOD_10.3: Recent changes and future challenges in alpine biodiversity.
Our colleagues in Europe have passed on this information: Session description MONMOD_10.3: Alpine areas of the world’s mountains cover less than three percent of the planet’s terrestrial surface. Owing to a complex topography, the compression of thermal life zones and low levels of human land use, high mountains host outstandingly high numbers of species. Distribution areas of alpine species, however, are generally far smaller, more scattered or fragmented than those of lowland species. This and their adaptation to low-temperature conditions makes them vulnerable to effects of climate change. Efforts in long-term monitoring, experimental research and modelling studies are therefore much demanded for determining magnitudes, velocities, functionalities and idiosyncrasies of biodiversity change in alpine environments. Much of the ongoing monitoring and research activity is located in mountain protected areas, which depend on knowledge about biodiversity losses for developing targeted conservation measures.
This session aims for contributions of observed biodiversity changes in alpine vegetation, biotic homogenization, neobiota, but also on animal organism groups and soil biota, results of experimental studies and predictive species distribution modelling. The main focus lies on effects of climate change, such as of the thermal regimes and of water availability, however, does not exclude other anthropogenic impacts, as for instance nitrogen deposition or changes in land use practices, which may interact with those of climate change. Besides research on ecosystem responses to anthropogenic drivers, the session addresses perspectives of conservation biology including the situation of protected area managements in view of ongoing or expected extinction processes.
- Website with session details: https://worldbiodiversityforum2024.org/session-program/ (a searchable overview-file will be uploaded soon)
- Website for the abstract submission: https://worldbiodiversityforum2024.org/abstract-submission/
- Abstract submission guidelines (online or PDF download): https://worldbiodiversityforum2024.org/abstract-submission/abstract-submission-guidelines/
Please also forward this message to your colleagues working with high mountain ecosystems.