In spite of their small global area and restricted distributions, tropical montane forests (TMFs) are biodiversity hotspots and important ecosystem services providers, but are also highly vulnerable to climate change. To protect and preserve these ecosystems better, it is crucial to inform the design and implementation of conservation policies with the best available scientific evidence, and to identify knowledge gaps and future research needs. We conducted a systematic review and an appraisal of evidence quality to assess the impacts of climate change on TMFs. We identified several skews and shortcomings. Experimental study designs with controls and long‐term (≥10 years) data sets provide the most reliable evidence, but were rare and gave an incomplete understanding of climate change impacts on TMFs. Most studies were based on predictive modelling approaches, short‐term (<10 years) and cross‐sectional study designs. Although these methods provide moderate to circumstantial evidence, they can advance our understanding on climate change effects. Current evidence suggests that increasing temperatures and rising cloud levels have caused distributional shifts (mainly upslope) of montane biota, leading to alterations in biodiversity and ecological functions. Neotropical TMFs were the best studied, thus the knowledge derived there can serve as a proxy for climate change responses in under‐studied regions elsewhere. Most studies focused on vascular plants, birds, amphibians and insects, with other taxonomic groups poorly represented. Most ecological studies were conducted at species or community levels, with a marked paucity of genetic studies, limiting understanding of the adaptive capacity of TMF biota. We thus highlight the long‐term need to widen the methodological, thematic and geographical scope of studies on TMFs under climate change to address these uncertainties. In the short term, however, in‐depth research in well‐studied regions and advances in computer modelling approaches offer the most reliable sources of information for expeditious conservation action for these threatened forests.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1111/brv.12950

Impacts of anthropogenic climate change on tropical montane forests: an appraisal of the evidence

Flowering phenology of alpine plant communities and seasonal dynamics of flower visitors have been scarcely studied in the tropical/subtropical alpine regions. We report flowering phenology, flower production, and flower‐visiting insects in an alpine site of central Taiwan. Throughout the research period (2017–2018), we recorded flowering phenology of 130 plant species, flower production of 81 species, and 15,127 insects visiting alpine flowers. Most of the alpine plants were visited by dipteran insects and/or hymenopteran insects. The seasonal patterns of flowering were more apparent in bee‐visited plants compared to fly‐visited plants in which the flowering of bee‐visited plants clearly increased as the season progressed. About 63% of flower visitors were dipteran insects (syrphid and non‐syrphid flies), and 30% were hymenopteran insects (mostly bumble‐bee workers). Although the seasonal trend in fly abundance was less clear between years, bumble‐bee abundance consistently increased in the middle to late seasons, reflecting colony development. There was a positive correlation between bee abundance and the number of flowering species of bee‐visited plants, but there was no correlation between fly abundance and the number of flowering species of fly‐visited plants throughout the season. These results suggest that the flowering phenology of subtropical alpine communities is influenced by the seasonal availability of pollinators. Bumble bees, syrphid flies, and non‐syrphid flies had wide ranges of foraging flowers, but their niche overlap was relatively small. Because cold‐adapted bumble bees are threatened by climate change in Taiwan, plant–pollinator interactions may be disturbed by global warming.

Seasonal dynamics of floral composition and flower visitors in a subtropical alpine ecosystem in Taiwan

Climate change has caused severe impacts on ecosystems and biodiversity globally, especially to vulnerable mountain ecosystems; the summits bear the brunt of such effects. Therefore, six summits in Taiwan were monitored based on a standardized multi-summit approach. We used both statistical downscaling of climate data and vegetation cover data to calculate climate niches to assess the impacts of climate change. Two indicators, thermophilic and moist-philic, were applied to evaluate the overall response of vegetation dynamics. The results revealed that potential evapotranspiration increased significantly and led to a declining tendency in monthly water balance from 2014 to 2019. The general pattern of species richness was a decline. The difference in plant cover among the three surveys showed an inconsistent pattern, although some dominant species expanded, such as the dwarf bamboo Yushania niitakayamensis. The thermophilic indicator showed that species composition had changed so that there were more thermophilic species at the three lowest summits. The moist-philization indicator showed a decline of humid-preferred species in the latest monitoring period. Although total precipitation did not decrease, our results suggest that the variability in precipitation with increased temperature and potential evapotranspiration altered alpine vegetation composition and could endanger vulnerable species in the future. 

/pdf/responses-of-alpine-summit-vegetation-under-climate-change-3tf6ya0r.pdf

Responses of alpine summit vegetation under climate change in the transition zone between subtropical and tropical humid environment

This study explored the long-term trends and breakpoints of vegetation, rainfall, and temperature in Taiwan from overall and regional perspectives in terms of vertical differences from 1982 to 2012. With time-series Advanced Very-High-Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data and Taiwan Climate Change Estimate and Information Platform (TCCIP) gridded monthly climatic data, their vertical dynamics were investigated by employing the Breaks for Additive Seasonal and Trend (BFAST) algorithm, Pearson’s correlation analysis, and the Durbin–Watson test. The vertical differences in NDVI values presented three breakpoints and a consistent trend from positive (1982 to 1989) to negative at varied rates, and then gradually increased after 2000. In addition, a positive rainfall trend was discovered. Average and maximum temperature had similar increasing trends, while minimum temperature showed variations, especially at higher altitudes. In terms of regional variations, the vegetation growth was stable in the north but worse in the central region. Higher elevations revealed larger variations in the NDVI and temperature datasets. NDVI, along with average and minimum temperature, showed their largest changes earlier in higher altitude areas. Specifically, the increasing minimum temperature direction was more prominent in the mid-to-high-altitude areas in the eastern and central regions. Seasonal variations were observed for each region. The difference between the dry and wet seasons is becoming larger, with the smallest difference in the northern region and the largest difference in the southern region. Taiwan’s NDVI and climatic factors have a significant negative correlation (p < 0.05), but the maximum and minimum temperatures have significant positive effects at low altitudes below 500 m. The northern and central regions reveal similar responses, while the south and east display different feedbacks. The results illuminate climate change evidence from assessment of the long-term dynamics of vegetation and climatic factors, providing valuable references for establishing correspondent climate-adaptive strategies in Taiwan.

Vertical Differences in the Long-Term Trends and Breakpoints of NDVI and Climate Factors in Taiwan

Flowering phenology of alpine plant communities and seasonal dynamics of flower visitors have been scarcely studied in the tropical/subtropical alpine regions. We report flowering phenology, flower production, and flower-visiting insects in the alpine site of central Taiwan. Throughout the research period (2017–2018), we recorded flowering phenology of 130 plant species, flower production of 81 species, and 15,127 insects visiting alpine flowers. Most of the alpine plants were visited by dipteran insects and/or hymenopteran insects. The seasonal patterns of flowering were more apparent in bee-visited plants compared to fly-visited plants in which the flowering of bee-visited plants clearly increased as the season progressed. About 63% of flower visitors were dipteran insects (syrphid and non-syrphid flies), and 30% were hymenopteran insects (mostly bumble-bee workers). Although the seasonal trend in fly abundance was less clear between years, bumble-bee abundance consistently increased in the middle to late seasons, reflecting colony development. There was a positive correlation between bee abundance and the number of flowering species of bee-visited plants, but there was no correlation between fly abundance and the number of flowering species of fly-visited plants throughout the season. These results suggest that the flowering phenology of subtropical alpine communities is influenced by the seasonal availability of pollinators. Bumble bees, syrphid flies, and non-syrphid flies had wide ranges of foraging flowers, but their niche overlap was relatively small. Because cold-adapted bumble bees are threatened by climate change in Taiwan, plant–pollinator interactions may be disturbed by global warming. 

/pdf/seasonal-dynamics-of-floral-composition-and-flower-visitors-2qm84dw3.pdf

Mountain ecosystems are globally among the most vulnerable to the impacts of global warming. This study is carried out on high-mountain summits dominated by dwarf bamboo, Yushania niitakayamensis, in the alpine zone of subtropical Taiwan. A total of six summits were selected using a multi-summit approach, following the common protocol of the Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments (GLORIA). To assess the climate change effects, we used the soil temperature and statistical downscaling precipitation data to analyze the climatic changing patterns, also applied enhanced vegetation index (EVI) and vegetation diversity index to assess the vegetation responses among summits along the timeline. The results showed that the temperature has a significant increase in all summits, especially in winter. The annual chilling days have reduced around 50% from 2010 to 2019, which would imply the extension of plant growing season. The EVI values showed a tendency to increase over time. Furthermore, the long-term trend of EVI had an abnormal drop in 2018. This coincided with low precipitation and extremely high temperature in the early growing season, which may have caused water shortage and a decline in plant growth. Although the temperature was increasing significantly, the species diversity was slightly increasing in the first survey, but significantly decreased in the third survey. We suggest that the increase in temperature and the extension of the growing season might have led to the expansion of the bamboo species Y. niitakayamensis. Its expansion, combined with an extreme climate event could have caused the decline in species diversity.

Assessment of climate change effects on alpine summit vegetation in the transition of tropical to subtropical humid climate

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Assessment of climate change effects on alpine summit vegetation in the transition of tropical to subtropical humid climate