Glacier retreat reorganizes river habitats leaving refugia for Alpine invertebrate biodiversity poorly protected

Alpine river biodiversity around the world is under threat from glacier retreat driven by rapid warming, yet our ability to predict the future distributions of specialist cold-water species is currently limited. Here we link future glacier projections, hydrological routing methods and species distri...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature ecology & evolution Vol. 7; no. 6; pp. 841 - 851
Main Authors: Wilkes, M. A., Carrivick, J. L., Castella, E., Ilg, C., Cauvy-Fraunié, S., Fell, S. C., Füreder, L., Huss, M., James, W., Lencioni, V., Robinson, C., Brown, L. E.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.06.2023
Nature Publishing Group
Nature
Subjects:
631/158
631/158/1144
704/242
Alpine environments
Animals
Aquatic habitats
Biodiversity
Biological and Physical Anthropology
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Catchments
Climate change
Climate prediction
Ecology
Ecosystem
Environmental Sciences
Evolutionary Biology
Geographical distribution
Glacier retreat
Glaciers
Global warming
Hydrology
Ice Cover
Invertebrates
Life Sciences
Paleontology
Protected areas
Refugia
Refugium
River networks
Rivers
Species
Zoology
Alps
ISSN:2397-334X, 2397-334X
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Alpine river biodiversity around the world is under threat from glacier retreat driven by rapid warming, yet our ability to predict the future distributions of specialist cold-water species is currently limited. Here we link future glacier projections, hydrological routing methods and species distribution models to quantify the changing influence of glaciers on population distributions of 15 alpine river invertebrate species across the entire European Alps, from 2020 to 2100. Glacial influence on rivers is projected to decrease steadily, with river networks expanding into higher elevations at a rate of 1% per decade. Species are projected to undergo upstream distribution shifts where glaciers persist but become functionally extinct where glaciers disappear completely. Several alpine catchments are predicted to offer climate refugia for cold-water specialists. However, present-day protected area networks provide relatively poor coverage of these future refugia, suggesting that alpine conservation strategies must change to accommodate the future effects of global warming. Organisms living at high elevations are particularly vulnerable to climate warming. Here the authors combine hydrological and glacier modelling with species distribution models to show how glacier retreat in the European Alps could impact the biodiversity and distributions of invertebrates in alpine rivers.
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ISSN:2397-334X
2397-334X
DOI:10.1038/s41559-023-02061-5