Global alpine biomes
Title: Global diversity patterns on alpine vegetation - GLOBALP
Project leader: Riccardo Testolin (PhD candidate)
Funding: La Sapienza University of Rome (PhD program)
Description: With this project, we provide a first overview of the diversity of alpine vegetation at the global scale, considering the diversity of alpine habitats across biomes and continents. To define the study system, we estimated the extent and spatial distribution of global alpine areas and performed their bioclimatic characterization. Then, we complement data currently available in the global vegetation database (sPlot) with new data to create the first dataset of global alpine vegetation, including several thousand plots spanning from the tropical alpine Andean Páramo to the temperate alpine grasslands of New Zealand’s Alps. We will perform an assessment of taxonomic alpha and gamma diversity in different alpine regions using both well-established and innovative extrapolation techniques. We will then compare the results among regions by considering their different bioclimatic characteristics. Finally, we will measure the functional diversity of alpine communities by considering simple functional traits and compare their distribution across regions.
Research team: Fabio Attorre, Borja JIménez-Alfaro (PhD supervisors) + sPlot database partners
Project leader: Riccardo Testolin (PhD candidate)
Funding: La Sapienza University of Rome (PhD program)
Description: With this project, we provide a first overview of the diversity of alpine vegetation at the global scale, considering the diversity of alpine habitats across biomes and continents. To define the study system, we estimated the extent and spatial distribution of global alpine areas and performed their bioclimatic characterization. Then, we complement data currently available in the global vegetation database (sPlot) with new data to create the first dataset of global alpine vegetation, including several thousand plots spanning from the tropical alpine Andean Páramo to the temperate alpine grasslands of New Zealand’s Alps. We will perform an assessment of taxonomic alpha and gamma diversity in different alpine regions using both well-established and innovative extrapolation techniques. We will then compare the results among regions by considering their different bioclimatic characteristics. Finally, we will measure the functional diversity of alpine communities by considering simple functional traits and compare their distribution across regions.
Research team: Fabio Attorre, Borja JIménez-Alfaro (PhD supervisors) + sPlot database partners
