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SUMITER: SUrveying and MonItoring mounTain vEgetation in the aRctic. A resurvey of GLORIA sites in Zackenberg/Greenland.

Lay summary

The world is currently experiencing a period of rapid and unprecedented climate warming and high-elevation and high-latitude regions are particularly affected, with rates of temperature increase two to three times higher than the global average. In line with these warming trends over recent decades, vegetation cover and diversity has increased in these regions. The increase in plant species diversity is currently mostly visible at the coldest outposts of plant life. Understanding how vegetation of arctic and alpine regions responds to climate change is therefore a pressing ecological issue on the global scale since they represent 25% of the terrestrial biosphere, are determinants of the global carbon cycle, and harbour disproportionally high rates of biodiversity. Thirteen years after their establishment, we will resurvey the three arctic mountain summits of the GLORIA (Global Research Initiative in Alpine environments) network to quantify recent changes in plant species cover, abundance and distribution. The GLORIA monitoring network consists of targets regions, each with usually four summit sites covering vegetation along the snowline and in alpine zones. Target regions are distributed over six continents and the globally distributed alpine life zone, thus, providing a unique opportunity for a comparative and simultaneous world-wide assessment of climate-induced impacts on cold-determined ecosystems. Within this project, we will first assess changes in vegetation along the snowline on three summits located near Zackenberg research station in Greenland. Zackenberg is the northernmost target region within the GLORIA network and has so far only been surveyed in 2008 and 2009. We will compare these changes with temperate mountain summits of the GLORIA network such as those located in the European Alps. We will then investigate whether seeds of species colonizing arctic mountain summits are derived from short-distance dispersal along the elevational gradient or rare long-distance dispersal events using seed bank and seed germination data from elevational transects set up in 2008. Finally, we will set up two new GLORIA transects (Downslope Plant Survey) below the highest arctic summit for further comparisons of changes in plant species distribution. Transects will allow assessment in the near future of whether vegetation changes on arctic and temperate mountain summits can be explained by the available species pool at lower elevation. This unique dataset will therefore grant the first opportunity to assess climate-driven changes in plant species distribution and abundance on mountain summits in the Arctic. In addition, the affiliation with the GLORIA network allows for a standardized comparison of arctic vegetation changes with other tundra habitats across Europe and thus, an evaluation of the relative velocity of these changes.

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