Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments
The research program GLORIA ( Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments ) operates an international monitoring network for the long-term observation of high mountain vegetation and its biological diversity. The task of GLORIA is the comparative recording of alpine biodiversity patterns and the analysis and assessment of their changes under the influence of anthropogenic climate change . Using a standardized design with permanent observation areas, climate-induced migration processes in alpine plants are examined, which can lead to a new colonization or to the disappearance of certain species. Founded in 2001 as a European pilot project, the GLORIA program is now being carried out in all climate zones on earth, from the tropics to the polar regions.
history
The impulse for long-term monitoring of alpine plant communities in the context of anthropogenic global change was first given in 1996 at a conference of the International Biosphere-Geosphere Program (IGBP) in Kathmandu . This resulted in a method development for an internationally applicable monitoring approach initiated by the Austrian vegetation ecologists Georg Grabherr , Michael Gottfried and Harald Pauli. The initial project GLORIA-Europe, which started in 2001, was the first large-scale test phase for global implementation with 18 study areas in 13 European countries. Since 2004, the monitoring network has gradually expanded to meanwhile over 120 areas, spread over six continents (as of January 2016).
Methodology and structure
Comparable, simple and inexpensive were essential considerations in the development of the GLORIA standard design and the survey methodology (Multi-Summit Approach) in order to implement a worldwide network with many operational observation stations. In each study area (target region), a series of four summit zones at different altitude represent a gradient from the tree boundary ecoton to the zone of the highest plant occurrence. In each summit zone, the vascular plant species and their abundance are mapped in permanent areas of different sizes and repeated at intervals of 5 to 10 years. In addition, the floor temperature is measured continuously. Various additional monitoring approaches, for example on other groups of organisms, on soil ecology or on socio-ecological aspects, are already being used in some study areas or are in development. The stations are looked after by the participation of committed ecologists and biologists from over a hundred research institutions and protected area administrations worldwide. There are also collaborations with other international research institutions such as the Global Mountain Biodiversity Assessment of the Future Earth program and the LTSER network. The international GLORIA coordination office and central database based in Vienna is connected to the Austrian Academy of Sciences ( Institute for Interdisciplinary Mountain Research ) and the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (Center for Global Change and Sustainability).
Current Results
Repeat investigations across Europe showed widespread thermophilization of alpine vegetation, i. H. the species composition changed in favor of warmth-needing species, with a simultaneous decline in cold-adapted species. An increase in species was also observed across all climatic zones on the continent. In Central and Northern Europe, however, this led to an increase in the number of species in the study areas, while in the Mediterranean region the number of species stagnated or declined, the latter possibly as a result of the combined effects of global warming and increasing drought. However, a decline in the frequency of some extreme high mountain species has already been demonstrated in the Alps. Comparative studies with the results from other continents are still pending due to the later installation date.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ George P. Malanson, Jonathan P. Rose, P. Jason Schroeder, Daniel B. Fagre: Contexts for Change in Alpine Tundra . In: Physical Geography . tape 32 , no. 2 , March 1, 2011, ISSN 0272-3646 , p. 97–113 , doi : 10.2747 / 0272-3646.32.2.97 ( tandfonline.com [accessed February 1, 2016]).
- ↑ a b Pauli H. et al .: The GLORIA field manual - standard multi-summit approach, supplementary methods and extra approaches. 5th edition . Ed .: GLORIA-Coordination, Austrian Academy of Sciences & University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences. 5th edition. Vienna 2015, ISBN 978-92-79-45694-7 , doi : 10.2777 / 095439 .
- ^ Georg Grabherr, Michael Gottfried, Harald Pauli: GLORIA: A Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments . In: Mountain Research and Development . tape 20 , no. 2 , May 1, 2000, ISSN 0276-4741 , p. 190-191 , doi : 10.1659 / 0276-4741 (2000) 020 [0190: GAGORI] 2.0.CO; 2 ( bioone.org [accessed February 1, 2016]).
- ↑ Michael Gottfried, Harald Pauli, Andreas Futschik, Maia Akhalkatsi, Peter Barančok: Continent-wide response of mountain vegetation to climate change . In: Nature Climate Change . tape 2 , no. 2 , p. 111-115 , doi : 10.1038 / nclimate1329 ( nature.com ).
- ↑ Harald Pauli, Michael Gottfried, Stefan Dullinger, Otari Abdaladze, Maia Akhalkatsi: Recent Plant Diversity Changes on Europe's Mountain Summits . In: Science . tape 336 , no. 6079 , April 20, 2012, ISSN 0036-8075 , p. 353–355 , doi : 10.1126 / science.1219033 , PMID 22517860 ( sciencemag.org [accessed February 1, 2016]).
- ↑ Harald Pauli, Michael Gottfried, Karl Reiter, Christian Klettner, Georg Grabherr: Signals of range expansions and contractions of vascular plants in the high Alps: observations (1994-2004) at the GLORIA * master site cabinetogel, Tyrol, Austria . In: Global Change Biology . tape 13 , no. 1 , January 1, 2007, ISSN 1365-2486 , p. 147–156 , doi : 10.1111 / j.1365-2486.2006.01282.x ( wiley.com [accessed February 1, 2016]).