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Effects of ski piste preparation on alpine vegetation / Sonja Wipf in Journal of applied ecology, 42 ([01/01/2005]) 

Public Citation [article]  inJournal of applied ecology > 42 [01/01/2005] . - 303-316 Titre : Effects of ski piste preparation on alpine vegetation Type de document : Imprimé Auteurs : Sonja Wipf ; Christian Rixen (1969-) ; Markus Fischer ; Bernhard Schmid ; Veronika Stoeckli Année de publication : 2005 Article en page(s) : 303-316 Langues : Anglais (eng) Catégories : [CBNPMP-Thématique] Etude d'aménagement, étude d'impact, actions anthropiques et leur impact [CBNPMP-Thématique] Revégétalisation Note de contenu : 1 Ski resorts increasingly affect alpine ecosystems through enlargement of ski pistes, machine-grading of ski piste areas and increasing use of artificial snow. 2 In 12 Swiss alpine ski resorts, we investigated the effects of ski piste management on vegetation structure and composition using a pairwise design of 38 plots on ski pistes and 38 adjacent plots off-piste. 3 Plots on ski pistes had lower species richness and productivity, and lower abundance and cover of woody plants and early flowering species, than reference plots. Plots on machine-graded pistes had higher indicator values for nutrients and light, and lower vegetation cover, productivity, species diversity and abundance of early flowering and woody plants. Time since machine-grading did not mitigate the impacts of machine-grading, even for those plots where revegetation had been attempted by sowing. 4 The longer artificial snow had been used on ski pistes (2–15 years), the higher the moisture and nutrient indicator values. Longer use also affected species composition by increasing the abundance of woody plants, snowbed species and late-flowering species, and decreasing wind-edge species. 5 Synthesis and applications. All types of ski piste management cause deviations from the natural structure and composition of alpine vegetation, and lead to lower plant species diversity. Machine-grading causes particularly severe and lasting impacts on alpine vegetation, which are mitigated neither by time nor by revegetation measures. The impacts of artificial snow increase with the period of time since it was first applied to ski piste vegetation. Extensive machine-grading and snow production should be avoided, especially in areas where nutrient and water input are a concern. Ski pistes should not be established in areas where the alpine vegetation has a high conservation value. Lien pérenne : DOI : 10.1111/j.1365-2664.2005.01011.x Permalink : https://biblio.cbnpmp.fr/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=148162 Wipf, Sonja, Rixen, Christian (1969-), Fischer, Markus, Schmid, Bernhard, Stoeckli, Veronika 2005 Effects of ski piste preparation on alpine vegetation. Journal of applied ecology, 42: 303-316.

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Phenological and elevational shifts of plants, animals and fungi under climate change in the European Alps / Yann Vitasse in Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, 96 (5) (October 2021) 

Public Citation [article]  inBiological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society > 96 (5) (October 2021) . - 1816-1835 Titre : Phenological and elevational shifts of plants, animals and fungi under climate change in the European Alps Type de document : Électronique Auteurs : Yann Vitasse (1981-) ; Sylvain Ursenbacher ; Geoffrey Klein ; Thierry Bohnenstengel ; Yannick Chittaro ; Anne Delestrade ; Christian Monnerat ; Martine Rebetez ; Christian Rixen (1969-) ; Nicolas Strebel ; Benedikt Schmidt ; Sonja Wipf ; Thomas Wohlgemuth ; Gilles Nigel Yoccoz (1964-) ; Jonathan Lenoir Année de publication : 2021 Article en page(s) : 1816-1835 Catégories : [LOTERRE-Biodiversité] Changement climatique [CBNPMP-Géographique] Alpes [CBNPMP-Thématique] Variabilité phénologique Résumé : Mountain areas are biodiversity hotspots and provide a multitude of ecosystem services of irreplaceable socio-economic value. In the European Alps, air temperature has increased at a rate of about 0.36°C per decade since 1970, leading to glacier retreat and significant snowpack reduction. Due to these rapid environmental changes, this mountainous region is undergoing marked changes in spring phenology and elevational distribution of animals, plants and fungi. Long-term monitoring in the European Alps offers an excellent natural laboratory to synthetize climate-related changes in spring phenology and elevational distribution for a large array of taxonomic groups. This review assesses the climatic changes that have occurred across the European Alps during recent decades, spring phenological changes and upslope shifts of plants, animals and fungi from evidence in published papers and previously unpublished data. Our review provides evidence that spring phenology has been shifting earlier during the past four decades and distribution ranges show an upwards trend for most of the taxonomic groups for which there are sufficient data. The first observed activity of reptiles and terrestrial insects (e.g. butterflies) in spring has shifted significantly earlier, at an average rate of −5.7 and −6.0 days/decade, respectively. By contrast, the first observed spring activity of semi-aquatic insects (e.g. dragonflies and damselflies) and amphibians, as well as the singing activity or laying dates of resident birds, show smaller non-significant trends ranging from −1.0 to +1.3 days/decade. Leaf-out and flowering of woody and herbaceous plants showed intermediate trends with mean values of −2.4 and −2.8 days/decade, respectively. Regarding species distribution, plants, animals and fungi (N = 2133 species) shifted the elevation of maximum abundance (optimum elevation) upslope at a similar pace (on average between +18 and +25 m/decade) but with substantial differences among taxa. For example, the optimum elevation shifted upward by +36.2 m/decade for terrestrial insects and +32.7 m/decade for woody plants, whereas it was estimated to range between −1.0 and +11 m/decade for semi-aquatic insects, ferns, birds and wood-decaying fungi. The upper range limit (leading edge) of most species also shifted upslope with a rate clearly higher for animals (from +47 to +91 m/decade) than for plants (from +17 to +40 m/decade), except for semi-aquatic insects (−4.7 m/decade). Although regional land-use changes could partly explain some trends, the consistent upward shift found in almost all taxa all over the Alps is likely reflecting the strong warming and the receding of snow cover that has taken place across the European Alps over recent decades. However, with the possible exception of terrestrial insects, the upward shift of organisms seems currently too slow to track the pace of isotherm shifts induced by climate warming, estimated at about +62 to +71 m/decade since 1970. In the light of these results, species interactions are likely to change over multiple trophic levels through phenological and spatial mismatches. This nascent research field deserves greater attention to allow us to anticipate structural and functional changes better at the ecosystem level. Lien pérenne : DOI : 10.1111/brv.12727 / HAL : hal-03286102 Permalink : https://biblio.cbnpmp.fr/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=148060 Vitasse, Yann (1981-), Ursenbacher, Sylvain, Klein, Geoffrey, Bohnenstengel, Thierry, Chittaro, Yannick, Delestrade, Anne, Monnerat, Christian, Rebetez, Martine, Rixen, Christian (1969-), Strebel, Nicolas, Schmidt, Benedikt, Wipf, Sonja, Wohlgemuth, Thomas, Yoccoz, Gilles Nigel (1964-), Lenoir, Jonathan 2021 Phenological and elevational shifts of plants, animals and fungi under climate change in the European Alps. Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, 96(5): 1816-1835.

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