Using niche‐based modelling to assess the impact of climate change on tree functional diversity in Europe

By Wilfried Thuiller, S. Lavorel, M. Sykes, Miguel B. Araújo. 2006

294 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Rapid anthropogenic climate change is already affecting species distributions and ecosystem functioning worldwide. We applied niche‐based models to analyse the impact of climate change on tree species and functional diversity in Europe. Present‐day climate was used to predict the distributions of 122 tree species from different functional types (FT). We then explored projections of future distributions under one climate scenario for 2080, considering two alternative dispersal assumptions: no dispersal and unlimited dispersal. The species‐rich broadleaved deciduous group appeared to play a key role in the future of different European regions. Temperate areas were projected to lose both species richness and functional diversity due to the loss of broadleaved deciduous trees. These were projected to migrate to boreal forests, thereby increasing their species richness and functional diversity. Atlantic areas provided an intermediate case, with a predicted reduction in the numbers of species and occasional predicted gains in functional diversity. This resulted from a loss in species within the broadleaved deciduous FT, but overall maintenance of the group. Our results illustrate the fact that both species‐specific predictions and functional patterns should be examined separately in order to assess the impacts of climate change on biodiversity and gain insights into future ecosystem functioning.

Subfields: Atmospheric Science, Ecological Modeling, Nature and Landscape Conservation

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/b2f663cd0c54ce552802a436724a3a267082d1f2

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Atmospheric Science

  1. G. Hoch
  2. C. Körner
  3. Y. Vitasse
  4. C. Randin
  5. Armando Lenz
  6. C. Kollas
  7. D. Basler
  8. N. E. Zimmermann

In Ecological Modeling

  1. Wilfried Thuiller
  2. Antoine Guisan
  3. Miguel B. Araújo
  4. A. Townsend Peterson
  5. Jane Elith
  6. Jorge M. Lobo
  7. G. Grenouillet
  8. Rune Halvorsen

In Nature and Landscape Conservation

  1. Wilfried Thuiller
  2. Antoine Guisan
  3. Miguel B. Araújo
  4. G. Grenouillet
  5. Jorge M. Lobo
  6. Jane Elith
  7. L. Buisson
  8. A. Townsend Peterson

Citations in the corpus