The phenologies of plants and animals in snow-covered landscapes are expected to accelerate with global warming.However,there are few studies that have examined a range of unrelated taxa in alpine environments to dete...The phenologies of plants and animals in snow-covered landscapes are expected to accelerate with global warming.However,there are few studies that have examined a range of unrelated taxa in alpine environments to determine whether there is commonality in the proximate causes,synchrony in timing,or the direction of any changes.Records for five alpine animal species and two alpine plant species,chosen primarily for their visibility,were examined to determine their temporal response to regional climate warming.Over the 30-year period studied,they showed an array of different phenological responses.Plant flowering appeared linked to date of snow melt,whereas animal responses varied.Although having accelerated phenologies,two migratory bird species exhibited contrary changes;one to low-altitude warming regardless of snow conditions in the alpine zone (flame robin) and the other to state of the snowpack regardless of low-altitude temperatures (Richard's pipit).By contrast,the migratory bogong moth arrived significantly later over the years with no apparent explanatory climatic cause.Although bogong moths are not responding to earlier snow melt,insectivorous predators on the ground are.This could lead to a serious mismatch in timing at different trophic levels,putting pressure on endangered vertebrates.Emergence of locally wintering insect species,March flies and Macleay's swallowtails,were not significantly related to measured climatic parameters over the study period.A consequence of the disparate responses to climate warming recorded here is the questionable value of 'indicator species' to examine the impact of climate warming on alpine ecosystems.展开更多
Seasonal ice cover is uncommon on Australian lakes. In the Snowy Mountains, there are five natural, seasonally ice-covered lakes including Lake Cootapatamba, the highest lake in Australia. Blue Lake is the only one of...Seasonal ice cover is uncommon on Australian lakes. In the Snowy Mountains, there are five natural, seasonally ice-covered lakes including Lake Cootapatamba, the highest lake in Australia. Blue Lake is the only one of the five lakes with sufficient volume to be relatively independent of short-term changes in ambient temperature, and therefore is the lake most likely to be of use in tracking long-term regional climate change. Ice forms on Blue Lake near the winter solstice and ice-breakup occurs from late September to November. Timing of breakup is related to spring temperature and, as such, mirrors the timing of general snow thaw in the mountains. The existence of historic photographs taken of the lake at about the time of ice breakup allows for the possibility of reconstructing a history of alpine climate and in 1905 ice breakup was probably as late as mid-December.展开更多
文摘The phenologies of plants and animals in snow-covered landscapes are expected to accelerate with global warming.However,there are few studies that have examined a range of unrelated taxa in alpine environments to determine whether there is commonality in the proximate causes,synchrony in timing,or the direction of any changes.Records for five alpine animal species and two alpine plant species,chosen primarily for their visibility,were examined to determine their temporal response to regional climate warming.Over the 30-year period studied,they showed an array of different phenological responses.Plant flowering appeared linked to date of snow melt,whereas animal responses varied.Although having accelerated phenologies,two migratory bird species exhibited contrary changes;one to low-altitude warming regardless of snow conditions in the alpine zone (flame robin) and the other to state of the snowpack regardless of low-altitude temperatures (Richard's pipit).By contrast,the migratory bogong moth arrived significantly later over the years with no apparent explanatory climatic cause.Although bogong moths are not responding to earlier snow melt,insectivorous predators on the ground are.This could lead to a serious mismatch in timing at different trophic levels,putting pressure on endangered vertebrates.Emergence of locally wintering insect species,March flies and Macleay's swallowtails,were not significantly related to measured climatic parameters over the study period.A consequence of the disparate responses to climate warming recorded here is the questionable value of 'indicator species' to examine the impact of climate warming on alpine ecosystems.
文摘Seasonal ice cover is uncommon on Australian lakes. In the Snowy Mountains, there are five natural, seasonally ice-covered lakes including Lake Cootapatamba, the highest lake in Australia. Blue Lake is the only one of the five lakes with sufficient volume to be relatively independent of short-term changes in ambient temperature, and therefore is the lake most likely to be of use in tracking long-term regional climate change. Ice forms on Blue Lake near the winter solstice and ice-breakup occurs from late September to November. Timing of breakup is related to spring temperature and, as such, mirrors the timing of general snow thaw in the mountains. The existence of historic photographs taken of the lake at about the time of ice breakup allows for the possibility of reconstructing a history of alpine climate and in 1905 ice breakup was probably as late as mid-December.
