GLOBAL OBSERVATION RESEARCH INITIATIVE IN ALPINE ENVIRONMENTS

The network:

• Active target regions
  • Target region map
• The North American GLORIA Chapter
• Master sites
  • Mount Schrankogel
  • WMRS
• The network
  • Global arrangement of GLORIA target regions
    • The zonal approach:
    • The global circulation approach:
  • Details on the long-term maintenance of observation sites
• Why this network?

The GLORIA Master Site Schrankogel, Stubaier Alpen, Tyrol, Austria

Around 1000 permanent plots, established in 1994, are distributed between 2900m and 3450m near the summit area, spanning across the alpine-nival ecotone from the upper margin of closed alpine grassland to the nival zone. Alpine grassland, dominated by Carex curvula and Oreochloa disticha, disintegrates within this ecotone to open scree and rock-dominated plant assemblages composed of subnival and nival cushion plants (e.g., Androsace alpina, Saxifraga bryoides), small rosettes (e.g., Ranunculus glacialis) and graminoids (e.g., Poa laxa, Luzula spicata).

Permanent plots of 1x1m were arranged in transects on the mountain's south-western slope, at its southern, south-eastern, and eastern ridges. Positions of the corner points of each quadrat were accurately surveyed by using a tachymetre and photographs were made from each plot. Percentage cover of all vascular plant species and total percentage cover of bryophytes and lichens as well as the cover of abiotic surface components were recorded. Further, a Digital Elevation Model of 1x1m-resolution, covering the entire study area, was generated.

Further, the influence of domestic and wild-living ungulates (ERTL et al. 2002; HUELBER et al. 2005), nitrogen gradients (HUBER et al. submitted), permafrost patterns (HAEBERLI et al., unpubl.), flowering phenology and photoperiodism of alpine and nival vascular plants (KELLER & KÖRNER 2003; HUELBER et al. 2006), as well as patterns of bryophytes (HOHENWALLNER et al. 2002) were investigated. One of the most important additional dataset for the analysis vegetation development at the Schrankogel Master Site are temperature time-series, measured at around 40 positions distributed over the mountain's southern slope system since 1997.

What were the most obvious changes at Schrankogel's alpine-nival ecotone between 1994 and 2004? A re-investigation of a representative one third of the Schrankogel permanent plots showed the following (PAULI et al. 2006):

(1) the vascular plant species richness has significantly increased in the 1x1m-quadrats; the observed magnitude of this increase was consistent with earlier studies from high summits of the Alps (GRABHERR et al. 1994; PAULI et al. 1996; GRABHERR et al. 2001; BAHN & KÖRNER 2003; WALTHER et al. 2005);
(2) the species numbers have increased significantly more in plots which were formerly described as open subnival and nival vegetation (PAULI et al. 1999) compared to plots with alpine grassland vegetation;
(3) the increase in species richness was mostly due to species which were already present in the elevation zone and not due to invasion of species from lower altitudes; this 'filling process' rather than upward-migration is explained by the fairly homogenuous grassland belt which may act as a barrier to invasion by lower-elevation species; similar effects were observed on Piz Linard in Switzerland (PAULI et al. 2001, 2003).
(4) some alpine species and alpine to subnival pioneer species of have increased their cover, whereas all ‚true nival' showed a decline. See (PAULI et al. 2006) for details.

The observed changes on Mount Schrankogel confirmed data-based model scenarios on climate-induced impacts on high-mountain plants (GOTTFRIED et al. 1998; GOTTFRIED et al. 1999, 2002) and showed - for the first time in the European Alps - signals of declines of the most cold-adapted species.

Publications:

© GLORIA 2001 - 2010, disclaimer