A new study examines the impact of glacial extinction on biodiversity in alpine regions.
Many of the botanicals used in traditional medicines and to flavor spirits, from absinthe to eau de vie, grow in alpine regions near the toes of glacial ice. As the planet warms and glacial ice retreats, this unique environment is changing and altering the diversity of the plant community.
An Italian team of researchers explored the physical and biological factors that cascade through an ecosystem as glaciers retreat. The results, published in the January issue of Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, are not promising for your favorite flavored liquors.
“Glacial retreat is a double-edged sword,” said Gianalberto Losapio, a postdoctoral research fellow in ecology at Stanford University and first author on the study. “Habitat opens as a direct consequence of losing the glacier, but diversity decreases as competition increases from the species that persist.”
The researchers examined published data sets on plant species distribution and leaf traits along with unpublished, original data on environmental conditions at four locations—Vedretta d’Amola glacier, Western Trobio glacier, Rutor glacier, and the Vedretta di Cedec glacier forelands—within the Italian Alps.
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