Variation in alpine plant diversity and soil temperatures in two mountain landscapes of South Patagonia.

MV LENCINAS; R SOLER ESTEBAN; JM CELLINI; HA BAHAMONDE; M PEREZ FLORES; LH MONELOS; G MARTÍNEZ PASTUR; PL PERI

Diversity

MDPI

Lugar: Cham; Año: 2021 vol. 13

1424-2818

Alpine environments and their temporal changes are rarely studied at high latitudes in thesouthern hemisphere. We analyzed alpine plants, soil temperatures, and growing-season length inmountains of two landscapes of South Patagonia (46 to 56 SL): three summits (814?1085 m a.s.l)surrounded by foothill grasslands in Santa Cruz province (SC), and four summits (634?864 m a.s.l.)in sub-Antarctic forests of Tierra del Fuego province (TF). Sampling followed the protocolizedmethodology of the Global Observational Research Initiative in Alpine Environments (GLORIA).Factors were topography (elevation and cardinal aspect) and time (baseline vs. re-sampling forplants, five annual periods for temperatures), assessed by univariate and multivariate tests. Plantcomposition reflected the lowland surrounding landscapes, with only 9 mountain species on 52 totalsin SC and 3 on 30 in TF. Richness was higher in re-sampling than baseline, being assemblages moreinfluenced by aspect than elevation. Mean annual soil temperature and growing-season length,which varied with topography, were related to the Multivariate El Niño Southern Oscillation Index(MEI) but did not show clear warming trends over time. We highlight the importance of long-termstudies in mountainous regions of extreme southern latitudes, where factors other than warming(e.g., extreme climate events) explain variations.