Swiss researchers find Alpine plants in danger because of climate change-induced competition

The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich) revealed on Thursday that Alpine plants may be forced to battle for survival with new plant species migrating from lower altitudes because of rising temperatures caused by climate change.

A two-year experiment conducted on the Swiss Calanda Mountain showed that Alpine plants can survive in an environment that is three degrees warmer than their usual habitat, provided they manage to compete with other plant species.

The survival rate of four Alpine plants (spring pasqueflower, alpine kidney vetch, glossy scabious and black plantain) moved 600 metres lower down to simulate Swiss temperature rise over the next 50-100 years dropped by 50 percent when encountering new competitors.

Used to model upward plant migration, the study also found that those that did survive struggled to grow and flowered less, with competition for light believed to be a decisive factor as low-altitude plants tend to grow taller and boast larger leaves compared to their higher-altitude counterparts.

The experiment, conducted by plant ecologists Jake Alexander, Jeff Diez and ETH Zurich Professor Jonathan Levine underlines for the first time the repercussions of this new source of competition on Alpine fauna through empirical evidence.

"Finding out that it is competition from lower-elevation flora that serves as the decisive effect, and not higher temperatures as previously assumed, is a very valuable discovery," said Alexander in a statement. Endit