Year: 2026
Type: data-paper
Abstract: The Alpine Treeline Ecotone (ATE) is an important ecological transition zone at the juncture of montane forests and alpine vegetation. It serves as a crucial habitat for diverse species and a sensitive indicator of climate change. Consistent characterization of the elevational gradients of ATE is challenging due to complex topography and data limitations. This study introduces a comprehensive geospatial dataset delineating 2.3 million elevational transects within global ATEs. The dataset integrates global climatology with key environmental attributes, such as elevation, landforms, hydrology, and land cover. These transects effectively map the ecological transition from dense montane forests to barren, higher-altitude ridges. Their spatial flexibility facilitates standardized comparative analysis of ATEs, effectively bridging the gap between local field studies and global assessments in alpine research. The dataset can be employed to model the elevational distribution of ecosystem properties within ATEs, track the temporal changes of environmental factors along the ATE's elevational gradients, and forecast the specific, enduring effects of climate change on mountain ecosystems worldwide.
Source: Scientific Data
Authors: Chenyang Wei, Adam M. Wilson
Language: English
Topic: Tree-ring climate responses
Subfield: Atmospheric Science
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Life on land
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,490
Awards: G6962198247, CHANGING CLIMATIC CONDITIONS OVER LAST CENTURY HAVE SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECTED GLOBAL BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS ESPECIALLY IN HIGH-ELEVATION AREAS. AS A SENSITIVE MONITOR OF THE RECENT CLIMATE CHANGE TREELINES ARE EXPECTED TO BE DRIVEN UPSLOPE IN ALPINE REGIONS WORLDWIDE. THE SHIFT OF TREELINE HAS NEGATIVE IMPACTS ON ALPINE DIVERSITY AND HIGH-ALTITUDE ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION. MOREOVER THESE EFFECTS ARE VERY LIKELY TO CONTINUE TO INCREASE AS THE GLOBAL CLIMATE SYSTEM CONTINUES TO CHANGE IN THE FUTURE. WHILE A NUMBER OF STUDIES HAVE BEEN PERFORMED ON ALPINE TREELINES MOST WERE CARRIED OUT AT LOCAL TO REGIONAL SCALES AND ONLY A FEW EXPLICITLY TRACKED SHIFTS OVER TIME. THERE ARE CRITICALLY IMPORTANT QUESTIONS ABOUT THE SPATIOTEMPORAL DYNAMICS OF GLOBAL ALPINE TREELINES AND ITS CLIMATIC DRIVERS OVER THE PAST FEW DECADES. ACCORDINGLY THE OVERALL OBJECTIVES OF THIS STUDY ARE: 1) TO QUANTIFY THE SPATIOTEMPORAL DYNAMICS OF POSITION AND PRODUCTIVITY IN GLOBAL ALPINE TREELINE ECOTONES (ATES) OVER THE PAST FEW DECADES 2) TO DETERMINE THE MOST IMPORTANT ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH SHIFTING ALPINE TREELINES WORLDWIDE AND 3) TO PREDICT FUTURE VARIATION OF GLOBAL ALPINE TREELINES UNDER DIFFERENT SCENARIOS OF CLIMATE CHANGE. IN THIS STUDY WE PROPOSE TO ASSEMBLE HIGH RESOLUTION (30M) SATELLITE-DERIVED DATA ON VEGETATION DYNAMICS FOR THE WORLD'S MOUNTAIN RANGES TO STUDY THE SPATIOTEMPORAL VARIATION OF VEGETATIVE ACTIVITY NEAR GLOBAL ALTITUDINAL TREELINES FROM 1984 TO THE PRESENT. WE WILL USE THOSE PATTERNS IN COMBINATION WITH CLIMATIC VARIABILITY TO INFER THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE AND TOPOGRAPHIC FEATURES ASSOCIATED WITH ANY OBSERVED TREELINE DYNAMICS. FINALLY WE WILL USE MODELS FITTED OVER THE PAST FEW DECADES WITH CLIMATIC FACTORS FROM AN ENSEMBLE OF CMIP5 CLIMATE MODELS TO PROJECT THE SPATIOTEMPORAL DYNAMICS OF GLOBAL ALPINE TREELINE VEGETATION FROM THE PRESENT TO THE YEAR 2100. THE UNDERSTANDING OF GLOBAL TREELINE DYNAMICS UNDER CLIMATE CHANGE DURING THE RECENT DECADES WILL BE GREATLY ADVANCED THROUGH APPLYING NOVEL STATISTICAL THEORY TO THE ANALYSIS OF LARGE GRIDDED ENVIRONMENTAL DATASETS. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL FILL KEY GAPS IN UNDERSTANDING HOW CLIMATE HAS AFFECTED TREELINE POSITION AND WILL USE HIERARCHICAL BAYESIAN STATISTICAL MODELS TO LINK PREDICTIONS OF HIGH-RESOLUTION VEGETATION DYNAMICS WITH A VARIETY OF CLIMATE SCENARIOS; THIS HAS NOT BEEN ACCOMPLISHED TO DATE AND REPRESENTS A SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGE FOR EARTH SYSTEM MODELING AND ECOLOGICAL FORECASTING RELATED TO CLIMATE CHANGE. THE CONCEPTS AND METHODOLOGIES WILL BE BROADLY APPLICABLE AND TRANSFERABLE TO UNDERSTANDING AND PREDICTING VEGETATION RESPONSES AND ASSOCIATED ECOLOGICAL EFFECTS IN OTHER SYSTEMS ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLD. PROJECT DATA AND MODEL PREDICTIONS WILL BE MADE FREELY AVAILABLE THROUGH AN INTERACTIVE WEB INTERFACE WITH PAST AND PREDICTED ALPINE TREELINE DYNAMICS WORLDWIDE
OpenAlex ID: W7155613626
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