Accelerating climate change impacts on alpine glacier forefield ecosystems in the European Alps

Ecological Applications

Volumn 18, Issue 3, 2008, Pages 637-648

  Cannone, Nicoletta ^a   Diolaiuti, Guglielmina ^b   Guglielmin, Mauro ^c   Smiraglia, Claudio ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF FERRARA   (Italy)

^b UNIVERSITY OF MILAN   (Italy)

^c UNIVERSITY OF INSUBRIA   (Italy)

Author keywords

Alpine glaciers; Climate warming; Clonal plants; Colonization strategies; Italian alps; Mountain ecosystems; Sforzellina glacier; Vegetation

Indexed keywords

AIR TEMPERATURE; ALPINE ENVIRONMENT; CLIMATE CHANGE; CLIMATE EFFECT; DEGLACIATION; GLACIER; MASS BALANCE; SUCCESSION; VEGETATION DYNAMICS; WARMING;

EURASIA; EUROPE; ITALY; LOMBARDY; SOUTHERN EUROPE; VALTELLINA;

ALTITUDE; ARTICLE; ECOSYSTEM; ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING; EUROPE; GREENHOUSE EFFECT; ICE COVER; POACEAE; TIME;

ALTITUDE; ECOSYSTEM; ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING; EUROPE; GREENHOUSE EFFECT; ICE COVER; POACEAE; TIME FACTORS;

EID: 54549112096     PISSN: 10510761     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1890/07-1188.1     Document Type: Article

References (66)

1. Beniston, M. 2000. Environmental change in mountains and uplands. Arnold. London, UK.
2. Beniston, M. 2003. Climatic change in mountain regions: a review of possible impacts. Climatic Change 59:5-31.
3. Beniston, M., H. F. Diaz, and R. S. Bradley. 1997. Climatic change at high elevation sites: a review. Climatic Change 36: 233-251.
4. Beniston, M., F. Keller, and A. Goyette. 2003. Estimates of snow accumulation and volume in the Swiss Alps under changing climatic conditions. Theoretical and Applied Climatology 76:125-140.
5. Böhm, R., 1. Auer, M. Brunetti, M. Maugeri, T. Nanni, and W. Schöner. 2001. Regional temperature variability in the European Alps: 1760-1998 from homogenized instrumental time series. International Journal of Climatology 21:1779-1801.
6. Brunetti, M., M. Maugeri, and T. Nanni. 2000. Variations of temperature and precipitation in Italy from 1866 to 1995. Theoretical and Applied Climatology 65:165-174.
7. Burga, C. A. 1999. Vegetation development on the glacier forefield Morteratsch (Switzerland). Applied Vegetation Science 2:17-24.
8. Caccianiga, M., and C. Andreis. 2004. Pioneer herbaceous vegetation on glacier forefields in the Italian Alps. Phyto-coenologia 34(l):55-89.
9. Cannone, N., S. Sgorbati, and M. Guglielmin. 2007. Unexpected impacts of climatic change on alpine vegetation. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 7:360-364.
10. Casty, C, H. Wanner, J. L. Luterbaeher, J. Esper, and R. Böhm. 2005. Temperature and precipitation variability in the European Alps since 1500. International Journal of Clima-tolology 25:1855-1880.
11. Catasta, G., and C. Smiraglia. 1993. The mass balance of a cirque glacier in the Italian Alps (Ghiacciaio della Sforzellina, Ortles-Cevedale Group). Journal of Glaciology 39:87-90.
12. CGI (Comitate Glaciologico Italiano). 1971-1977. Campagne Glaciologiche (Glaciological surveys). Bollettino del Comitate) Glaciologico Italiano Serie I and 11:18-25.
13. CGI (Comitato Glaciologico Italiano). 1978-2006. Campagne Glaciologiche (Glaciological surveys). Geografia Fisica e Dinamica Quaternaria:l-25.
14. Chapin, F. S., L. R. Walker, C. L, Fastie, and L. C. Sharman. 1994. Mechanisms of primary succession following déglaciation at Glacier Bay, Alaska. Ecological Monographs 64: 149-175.
15. Chinn, T. J. 1999. New Zealand glacier response to climate change of the past 2 decades. Global and Planetary Change 22:155-168.
16. Cogley, J. G., and W. P. Adams. 1998. Mass balance of glaciers other than the ice sheets. Journal of Glaciology 44(147):315-325.
17. Cook, A. J., A. J. Fox, D. G. Vaughan, and J. G. Ferrigno. 2005. Retreating glacier fronts on the Antarctic Peninsula over the past half-century. Science 308:541-544.
18. Diolaiuti, G., C. Smiraglia, G. Vassena, and M. Motta. 2004. Dry calving processes at the ice cliff of Strandline Glacier, Northern Victoria Land, Antarctica. Annals of Glaciology 39:201-208.
19. Dyurgerov, M. B., and M. F. Meier. 2000. Twentieth century climate change: evidence from small glaciers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA) 97:1407-1411.
20. Egli, M., M. Wernli, C. Kneisel, and W. Haeberli. 2006. Melting glaciers and soil development in the proglacial area Morteratsch (Swiss Alps): I. Soil type chronosequence. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research 38:499-509.
21. Galen, C, and M. N. Stanton. 1995. Responses of snovvbed plant-species to changes in growing season length. Ecology 76:1546-1557.
22. Grabherr, G., M. Gottfried, and H. Pauli. 1994. Climate effects on mountain plants. Nature 369:448.
23. Guglielmin, M., A. Nardo, and C. Smiraglia, 1995. Lo spessore dei ghiacciai della Valfurva. Misurazioni tramite Sondaggi Elettrici Verticali. Neve e Valanghe 24:58-67.
24. Haeberli, W. 1995. Glacier fluctuations and climate change detection - operational elements of a worldwide monitoring strategy. World Meteorological Organisation Bulletin 44:23-31.
25. Haeberli, W., and M. Beniston. 1998. Climate change and its impacts on glaciers and permafrost in the Alps. Ambio 27: 258-265.
26. Haeberli, W., R. Frauenfelder, M. Hoelzle, and M. Maisch. 1999. On rates and acceleration trends of global glacier mass changes. Geografiska Annaler 81A:585-591.
27. Haeberli, W., and M. Hoelzle. 1995. Application of inventory data for estimating characteristics of and regional climate-change effects on mountain glaciers: a pilot study with the European Alps. Annals of Glaciology 21:206-212.
28. Hoelzle, M., W. Haeberli, M. Dischl, and W. Peschke. 2003. Secular glacier mass balances derived from cumulative glacier length changes. Global and Planetary Change 36:295-306.
29. IAHS (ICSI)-UNEP-UNESCO. 1988-2005. Glacier Mass Balance Bulletins (GMBBs). Volumes 1-8. World Glacier Monitoring Service, Zurich, Switzerland.
30. IPCC. 2001. Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
31. Jochmisen, M. 1970, Die Vegetationsentwicklung auf Morae-nenboden in Abhaengigkeit von einigen Umweltfaktoren. Verlag Universität Innsbruck 46:1-22.
32. Käser, G., A. Fountain, and P, Jansson. 2003. A manual for monitoring the mass balance of mountain glaciers. 1HP (International Hydrological Programme), Technical Documents in Hydrology, 59. UNESCO, Paris, France.
33. Keller, F., S. Goyette, and M. Beniston. 2005. Sensitivity analysis of snow cover to climate change scenarios and their impact on plant habitats in alpine terrain. Climatic Change 72:299-319.
34. Keller, F., F. Kienast, and M. Beniston. 2000. Evidence of response of vegetation to environmental change on high-elevation sites in the Swiss Alps. Regional and Environmental Change l(2):70-77.
35. Martin, E., and Y. Durand. 2006. Precipitation and snow cover variability in the French Alps. Lecture Notes in Earth Sciences. Volume 74, Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, Germany.
36. Matthews, J. A. 1992. The ecology of recently deglaciated terrain. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
37. Niederfriniger Schlag, R., and B. Erschbamer. 2000. Germination and establishment of seedlings on a glacier foreland in the Central Alps, Austria. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research 32:270-277.
38. Oerlemans, J. 2001. Glaciers and climate change. Balkema, Rotterdam, Netherlands.
39. Oerlemans, J. 2005, Extracting a climate signal from 169 glacier records. Science 308:675-677.
40. Oerlemans, J., B. Anderson, A. Hubbard, Ph. Huybrechts, T. Johannesson, W. H. Knap, M. Schmeits, A. P. Stroeven, R. S. W. van de Wal, J. Wallinga, and Z. Zuo. 1998. Modelling the response of glaciers to climate warming. Climate Dynamics 14:267-274
41. Oerlemans, J., and J. P. F. Fortuin. 1992. Sensitivity of glaciers and small ice caps to greenhouse warming. Science 258:115-117.
42. Østrem, G., and M. Brugman. 1989. Glacier mass-balance measurements. National Hydrology Research Institute, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
43. Patzelt, G. 1985. The period of glacier advances in the Alps, 1965 to 1980. Zeitschrift für Gletscherkunde und Glazialgeologie 21:403-407.
44. Paul, F., A. Kääb, M. Maisch, T. Kellenberger, and W. Haeberli. 2004. Rapid disintegration of Alpine glaciers observed with satellite data. Geophysical Research Letters 31:L21402 [doi: 10.1029/2004GL020816].
45. Pauli, H., M. Gottfried, and G. Grabherr. 1999. Vascular plant distribution patterns at the low temperature limits of plant life - the Alpine-nival ecotone of Mount Schrankogel (Tyrol, Austria). Phytocoenologia 29:297-325.
46. Pavan, M., G. Diolaiuti, V. Maggi, C. Smiraglia, and C. D'Agata, 2000. Prospezioni geofisiche sul Ghiacciaio della Sforzellina (Alpi Lombarde, Gruppo Ortles-Cevedale). Ri-sultati preliminari. Neve c Valanghe 41:6-13.
47. Pignatti, S, 1982. Flora d'Italia. Three volumes. Edagricole, Bologna, Italy.
48. Pirola, A., and V. Credaro. 1993. Changes in the vegetation of a recent glacial moraine in the Bernina group. Annali di Botanica LI:145-153.
49. Pirola, A., and V. Credaro. 1994. Osservazioni sul dinamismo della vegetazione di morena récente nel Gruppo del Bernina. Fitosociologia 27:139-149.
50. Pluess, A. R., and J. Stöcklin. 2005. The importance of population origin and environment on clonal and sexual reproduction in the alpine plant Geum reptans. Functional Ecology 19:228-237.
51. Raffl, C., and B. Erschbamer. 2004. Comparative vegetation analyses of two transects crossing a characteristic glacier valley in the Central Alps. Phytocoenologia 32:225-240.
52. Regione Lombardia. 2004. Lombardy Glacier data base.
53. Resnati, C., and C. Smiraglia. 1989. Ghiacciaio della Sforzellina. Misure dello spessore del ghiacciaio attraverso sondaggi geoelettrici. Rivista Club Alpino Italiano 110(6):70-75.
54. Root, T. L., J. T. Price, K. R. Hall, S. H. Scheider, C. Rosenzweig, and A. J. Pounds. 2003. Fingerprints of global warming on wild animals and plants. Nature 421:57-60.
55. Rossi, S., G. Diolaiuti, E. Forasacco, M. Pelfini, C. Smiraglia, and P. Spreafico. 2003. Evidenze geomorfologiche della più récente espansione glaciale correlabile all'episodio freddo degli anni '50-'70 del XX secolo sulle Alpi Lombarde. Pages 377-395 in M. Motta and A. Biancotti, editors. Risposta dei Processi geomorfologici alle variazioni ambientali. Glauco Brigati, Genoa, Italy.
56. Rott, H., P. Skvarca, and T. Nagler. 1996. Rapid collapse of northern Larsen Ice Shelf, Antarctica. Science 271:788-792.
57. Stöcklin, J. 1992. Umwelt, Morphologie und Wachstumsmuster klonaler Pflanzen - eine Übersicht. Botanica Helvetica 102:3-21.
58. Stöcklin, J., and E. Bäumler. 1996. Seed rain, seedling establishment and clonal growth strategies on a glacier foreland. Journal of Vegetation Science 7:45-56.
59. Theurillat, J. P., and A. Guisan. 2001. Potential impact of climate change on vegetation in the European Alps: a review. Climatic Change 50:77-109.
60. Tscherko, D., U. Hammesfahr, G. Zeltner, E. Kandeler, and R. Böcker. 2005. Plant succession and rhizosphere microbial communities in a recently deglaciated alpine terrain. Basic and Applied Ecology 6:367-383,
61. Uppenbrink, J. 1999. The North Atlantic Oscillation. Science 283:948-949.
62. Vögtle, T., and K. J. Schilling. 1999. Digitizing maps. Pages 201-216 in H.-P. Bahr and T. Vögtle, editors. GIS for environmental monitoring. Schweizerbart, Stuttgart, Germany.
63. Walther, G. R., S. Beißner, and C. A. Burga. 2005. Trends in the upward shift of alpine plants. Journal of Vegetation Science 16:541-548.
64. Whittaker, R. J. 1993. Plant population patterns in a glacier foreland succession: pioneer herbs and later-colonizing shrubs. Ecography 16:117-136.
65. Wood, F. 1988. Global alpine glacier trends 1960s to 1980s. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research 20:404 - 413.
66. Zemp, M., W. Haeberli, M. Hoelzle, and F. Paul. 2006. Alpine glaciers to disappear within decades? Geophysical Research Letters 33:L13504. [doi: 10.1029/2006GL0263'19]