Work

Lithosphere as a bottom-up modulator of mountain vegetation resilience

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Understanding vegetation resilience, defined as the recovery speed of vegetation following external perturbations, is essential for predicting ecosystem stability under climate change, yet the role of lithosphere in mountain systems remains poorly understood. Here, we assess how lithology and tectonics modulate vegetation resilience across global mountains using integrated climate, soil, topography, human footprint, lithology, land-cover, and vegetation datasets. Vegetation type and temperature dominate global patterns, with resilience highest in trees, followed by herbs and shrubs, together explaining 86% of the spatial variability. After accounting for climatic and anthropogenic effects, resilience across vegetation types is strongly mediated by lithospheric pathways. Tree resilience peaks in steep, actively incising terrains underlain by erosion-resistant plutonic and metamorphic rocks, as well as dissolution-prone carbonate rocks. Herb resilience is strongly linked to soil organic carbon enriched on mafic and metamorphic rocks. Shrub resilience is primarily temperature-dependent (93%) but shows reduced warming sensitivity on nutrient-poor substrates. Moreover, resilience peaks at intermediate channel steepness (ksn ≈ 500), suggesting that moderate tectonic uplift promotes vegetation resilience. These findings identify the lithosphere as a fundamental modulator of mountain vegetation resilience and highlight geological constraints on ecosystem stability across heterogeneous landscapes.

Source: Nature Communications

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-74875-3

Authors: Haoyue Zhang, Xujiao Zhang, Jinbo Zan, Xiaomin Fang, Pat J.-F. Yeh