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opencc-zeroNov 2022View details →

Data from: Green‐brown polymorphism in alpine grasshoppers affects body temperature

1. Ectothermic animals depend on external heat sources for pursuing their daily activities. However, reaching sufficiently high temperature can be limiting at high altitudes, where nights are cold and seasons short. We focus on the role of a green-brown color polymorphism in grasshoppers from alpine habitats. The green-brown polymorphism is phylogenetically and spatially widespread among Orthopterans and the eco-evolutionary processes that contribute to its maintenance have not yet been identified. 2. We here test whether green and brown individuals heat up to different temperatures under field conditions. If they do, this would suggest that thermoregulatory capacity might contribute to the maintenance of the green-brown polymorphism. 3. We recorded thorax temperatures of individuals sampled and measured under field conditions. Overall, thorax temperatures ranged 1.7–42.1°C. Heat up during morning hours was particularly rapid, and temperatures stabilized between 31 and 36°C during the warm parts of the day. Female body temperatures were significantly higher than body temperatures of males by an average of 2.4°C. We also found that brown morphs were warmer by 1.5°C on average, a pattern that was particularly supported in the polymorphic club-legged grasshopper Gomphocerus sibiricus and the meadow grasshopper Pseudochorthippus parallelus. 4. The difference in body temperature between morphs might lead to fitness differences that can contribute to the maintenance of the color polymorphism in combination with other components, such as crypsis, that functionally trade-off with the ability to heat up. The data may be of more general relevance to the maintenance of a high prevalence polymorphism in Orthopteran insects.

opencc-by-4.0Aug 2022View details →

Data for: Four decades of phenology in an alpine amphibian: trends, stasis, and climatic drivers

This dataset is used for the analysis of the breeding phenology of a common toad (Bufo bufo) alpine population, and how it is associated with either climatic conditions or the genetics of the population.   Toad Data Since 1982, we have captured annually all the toads that come to breed at the study pond. We then marked (first by toe-clipping, then starting in 1993 by implanting PIT tags), measured, and released them in the same place (Hemelaar, 1988; Grossenbacher, 2002). To make sure we captured both early and late arrivers, we repeated this procedure for on average 5–6 nights, with breaks in-between of about 2-4 days (i.e, the data conform to Pollock’s (1982) robust design). The length of the field work period usually covers the breeding season duration, which typically lasts about two weeks at our study pond. This design also had the advantage of not overly stressing the toads. In total, for the period 1982–2020, 3053 uniquely recognizable individuals have been caught, of which 1852 were males and 1201 females. For each individual we have a record of presence for each capture night over the study period. Given the reduced size of the pond and the repeated capture rounds within a capture night, we assumed high capture probabilities (capture probability p ≈ 0.85 per year based on a preliminary analysis of the mark-recapture data). At the population level we determined for each year a start, a peak, and an end date of breeding (i.e., first capture night, the capture night when most toads were captured, and last capture night, respectively). These calendar dates were all transformed into days of the year (where January 1st is 1), to facilitate modelling of long-term trends.   Weather Data We obtained climatic data for the period 1980–2020 from the DaymetCH dataset (data obtained from Bioclimatic maps of Switzerland © WSL, based on station data from the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss, and elaborated by the Land Change Science group, WSL). This dataset consists of a 100-metre resolution grid of interpolated estimates of weather variables, using meteorological data from ground stations and the Daymet software (Thornton et al., 1997). We obtained data for the cell containing the breeding pond for the following variables: daily minimum, maximum, and mean temperature, daily total precipitation, and daily snow water equivalent (SWE; the equivalent amount of water stored in the snow pack). We then calculated average seasonal minimum daily temperatures (winter and spring), and cumulative seasonal precipitation (spring) and SWE (winter and spring). The csv file Season_values store these measures (one value for each of the 5 climatic variables per year, for the period 1982-2020, as the study on the toads started in 1982). We conducted all the analyses in R (R version 4.1.1; R Core Team, 2020) with RStudio (version 2022.7.1.554; R Studio Team, 2022).

opencc-zeroDec 2022View details →

Contrasting effects of two phenotypes of an alpine cushion plant on understory species drive community assembly

In alpine systems, cushion plants act as foundation species by ameliorating local environmental conditions. Empirical studies indicate that contrasting phenotypes of alpine cushion species have different effects on understory plant species, either facilitative or competitive. Furthermore, dependent species within each community type might also exhibit different responses to each cushion phenotype, which can be clustered into several "response groups". Additionally, these species-groups specific responses to alpine cushion species phenotypes could alter community assembly. However, very few studies have assessed responses of dependent communities at species-group levels, in particular for both above- and below-ground communities. Here, we selected a loose and a tight phenotype of the alpine cushion species Thylacospermum caespitosum in two sites in northwest China, and use the relative intensity of interactions index to quantify cushion plant effects on subordinate communities of plants and soil fungi and bacteria. We assessed variations in responses of both above- and below-ground organisms to cushion plant effects at species-group level. Species-group level analyses showed that the effects of the phenotype varied among groups of each of the three community types, and different species-groups were composed of unique taxa. Additionally, we found that loose cushions enhanced stochastic processes in community assembly, for plants and soil fungi but not for soil bacteria. These variations of phenotypic effects on different species-group induced contrasting taxonomic composition between groups and altered community assembly thereby. Our study highlights the occurrence of contrasting effects of two phenotypes of a foundation cushion plant on understory plants, soil fungi and bacteria community composition, but not necessarily on their richness. We also showed that assessing responses of understory species at the species-group level allows a more realistic and mechanistic understanding of biotic interactions both for above- and below-ground communities.

opencc-zeroJan 2023View details →

Regional plot x species data for alpine vegetation

Whether the distribution and assembly of plant species are adapted to current climates or legacy effects poses a problem for their conservation during ongoing climate change. The alpine regions of southern and central Europe (SACEU) are compared to those of the western US and Canada (WUSAC) because they differ in their geographies and histories. Individual-based simulation experiments disentangled the role of geography in species adaptations and legacy effects in four combinations: approximations of observed alpine geographies vs. regular lattices with the same number of regions (realistic and null representations), and virtual species with responses to either climatic or simple spatial gradients (adaptations or legacy effects). Additionally, dispersal distances were varied using five Gaussian kernels. Because the similarity of pairs of regional species pools indicated the processes of assembly at extensive spatiotemporal scales and is a measure of beta diversity, this output of the simulations was correlated to observed similarity for Europe and North America. In North America, correlations were highest for simulations with approximated geography and location-adapted species; those in Europe had their highest correlation with the lattice pattern and climate-adapted species. Only SACEU correlations were sensitive to dispersal limitation. The southern and central European alpine areas are more isolated and with more distinct climates to which species are adapted. In the western US and Canada, less isolation and more mixing of species from refugia has caused location to mask climate adaptation. Among continents, the balance of explanatory factors for the assembly of regional species pools will vary with their unique historical biogeographies, with isolation lessening disequilibria.

opencc-zeroJan 2023View details →

Alpine range by species input to simulations that reveal climate and legacy effects

Whether the distribution and assembly of plant species are adapted to current climates or legacy effects poses a problem for their conservation during ongoing climate change. The alpine regions of southern and central Europe (SACEU) are compared to those of the western US and Canada (WUSAC) because they differ in their geographies and histories. Individual-based simulation experiments disentangled the role of geography in species adaptations and legacy effects in four combinations: approximations of observed alpine geographies vs. regular lattices with the same number of regions (realistic and null representations), and virtual species with responses to either climatic or simple spatial gradients (adaptations or legacy effects). Additionally, dispersal distances were varied using five Gaussian kernels. Because the similarity of pairs of regional species pools indicated the processes of assembly at extensive spatiotemporal scales and is a measure of beta diversity, this output of the simulations was correlated to observed similarity for Europe and North America. In North America, correlations were highest for simulations with approximated geography and location-adapted species; those in Europe had their highest correlation with the lattice pattern and climate-adapted species. Only SACEU correlations were sensitive to dispersal limitation. The southern and central European alpine areas are more isolated and with more distinct climates to which species are adapted. In the western US and Canada, less isolation and more mixing of species from refugia have caused location to mask climate adaptation. Among continents, the balance of explanatory factors for the assembly of regional species pools will vary with their unique historical biogeographies, with isolation lessening disequilibria.

opencc-zeroFeb 2023View details →

Radiometric dating of sediment cores from three alpine lakes in Utah, United States, with stable isotope data

We collected sediment cores from three alpine lakes in Utah, United States, to isolate dormant Daphnia eggs for a resurrection ecology experiment. Our question was whether radioactive fallout from above-ground nuclear weapons testing at the Nevada Test Site in the 1950s and 1960s caused increased mutation rates and population evolution in Daphnia. That work is ongoing. Here, we publish radioisotope dating profiles from our sediment cores.

opencc-zeroFeb 2023View details →

Global warming leads to habitat loss and genetic erosion of alpine biodiversity

Aim: Species living on steep environmental gradients are expected to be especially sensitive to global climate change. Here, we combined genetic, ecological niche modelling and climatic niche comparisons to investigate the influence of climate on the biogeography of three alpine species with overlapping ranges. Location: Te Waipounamu (South Island) Aotearoa–New Zealand. Taxon: Endemic alpine-adapted Cataontopinae grasshoppers. Methods: We used niche modelling to estimate and project the potential niche of three focal species under past and future climate scenarios. Vulnerability assessments were performed using niche factor analyses. Demographic trends and phylogeographic structure were investigated using samples from 15 mountain tops to generate mitochondrial DNA haplotype networks and population genetic statistics. Results: Niche models and genetic data suggest suitable habitat for all three alpine species was more widespread and contiguous in the past than today. Demographic analyses indicate in situ survival rather than post-Pleistocene colonisation of current habitat. Population structuring and genetic divergence suggest that mountain uplift during the Pliocene and environmental barriers during Pleistocene glacial and interglacial stages shaped contemporary population structure of each species. Though geographically overlapping, niche analyses suggest these alpine species are not ecologically identical, and each shows similar but distinct responses to environmental change, but all will lose intraspecific diversity through population extinction. Main conclusions: Climatic, biological and geophysical factors controlled population structuring of three cold-adapted species during the Pleistocene with a legacy of spatially separate intraspecific lineages. Ecological niche models for each species emphasise distinct combinations of environmental proxies, but all are expected to experience severe habitat reduction during climate warming. Increased global temperatures drive available habitat to higher elevation resulting in population contractions, range shifts, habitat fragmentation, local extinctions, and genetic impoverishment. Despite alpine species not being ecologically identical, we predict all mountain biota will lose significant genetic diversity due to global warming.

opencc-by-4.0Mar 2023View details →

The methane paradox in pre-alpine lakes

Data collected in four Swiss pre-alpine lakes to study the methane production in oxic surface waters.

opencc-zeroMar 2023View details →

Evolutionary footprints of cold adaptation in arctic-alpine Cochlearia (Brassicaceae) – evidence from freezing experiments and electrolyte leakage

As global warming progresses, plants may be forced to adapt to drastically changing environmental conditions. Arctic-alpine plants have been among the first to experience the effects of climate change. As a result, cold acclimation and freezing tolerance may become increasingly crucial for the survival as winter warming events and earlier snowmelt will cause increased exposure to occasional frost. The tribe Cochlearieae in the mustard family (Brassicaceae) offers an instructive system for studying cold adaptation in evolutionary terms, as the two sister genera Ionopsidium and Cochlearia are distributed among different ecological habitats throughout the European continent and the far north into circumarctic regions. By applying an electrolyte leakage assay to leaves obtained from plants cultivated under controlled temperature regimes in growth chambers, the freezing tolerance of different Ionopsidium and Cochlearia species was assessed measuring lethal freezing temperature values (LT50 and LT100), thereby allowing for a comparison across different species and accessions in their responses to cold. We hypothesized that, owing to varying selection pressures, geographically distant species would differ in freezing tolerance. Despite Ionopsidium occurring under warm and dry Mediterranean conditions and Cochlearia species distributed often at cold habitats, all accessions exhibited similar cold responses. The results may indicate that physiological adaptations of primary metabolic pathways to different stressors, such as salinity and drought, may confer an additional tolerance to cold; this is because all these stressors induce osmotic challenges.

Abb. 1 in Eine alpine Population von überwiegend gestreiften Setina roscida ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775), ein Fall von Introgression? (Lepidoptera: Arctiinae)

Abb. 1. Setina irrorella. Oben links gepunktete Form (Vals (GR), 1650 m ü. M; 1.8.1992), unten rechts gestreifte Form (S-chanf (GR), 2300 m ü. M; 26.7.2012) sowie Übergangsformen (Tujetsch (GR), 1820 m ü. M; 23.7.2015 und Müstair (GR), 2100 m ü. M; 19.7.2010). (Foto Jürg Schmid)

Abb. 4 in Eine alpine Population von überwiegend gestreiften Setina roscida ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775), ein Fall von Introgression? (Lepidoptera: Arctiinae)

Abb. 4. Männliches Genital, Valven (alle Bilder gleicher Massstab). Oben: aus einer gepunkteten Population von Setina roscida (Ofenpass (GR), 2550 m ü. M; 4.8.2009). Mitte: aus einer gestreif- ten Population von Setina aurita (Brigels (GR), 2480 m ü. M; 18.9.1980). Unten: eine gestreifte S. roscida (Avers (GR), 2530 m ü. M; 6.7.2015). (Gen. präp. und Fotos Jürg Schmid)

Abb. 5 in Eine alpine Population von überwiegend gestreiften Setina roscida ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775), ein Fall von Introgression? (Lepidoptera: Arctiinae)

Abb. 5. Unterseiten von Setina aurita, gestreifte Form, links (Maienfeld (GR), 1900 m ü. M; 1.8.2009) und Setina roscida, gestreifte Form, rechts (Avers (GR), 2530 m ü. M; 4.7.2015). (Foto Jürg Schmid)

Abb. 3. Setina roscida und sympatrische S in Eine alpine Population von überwiegend gestreiften Setina roscida ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775), ein Fall von Introgression? (Lepidoptera: Arctiinae)

Abb. 3. Setina roscida und sympatrische S. aurita von Avers (GR), um 2500 m ü. M.; 16.7.2009. Oben links: S. roscida, gepunktete Form, darunter Übergangsform. Oben und Mitte rechts: S. roscida, gestreifte Form. Unten Mitte: S. aurita. (Foto Jürg Schmid)

Abb. 2 in Eine alpine Population von überwiegend gestreiften Setina roscida ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775), ein Fall von Introgression? (Lepidoptera: Arctiinae)

Abb. 2. Setina aurita. Gepunktete Tieflandform (Rothenbrunnen (GR), 660 m ü. M; 10.9.2004) und gestreifte Höhenform (Maienfeld (GR), 1900 m ü. M; 1.8.2009). (Foto Jürg Schmid)

opencc-by-4.0Dec 2019View details →

Mâle de sténobothre alpin Stenobothrus rubicundulus s'apprêtant à «chanter». Ce criquet émet un crépitement des ailes en les redressant vers le haut et en frottant les ailes postérieures l'une contre l'autre. (Photo Stève Breitenmoser) in Société Vaudoise D'Entomologie (Sve)

Mâle de sténobothre alpin Stenobothrus rubicundulus s'apprêtant à «chanter». Ce criquet émet un crépitement des ailes en les redressant vers le haut et en frottant les ailes postérieures l'une contre l'autre. (Photo Stève Breitenmoser)

opencc-by-4.0Jul 2023View details →

Robotic Monitoring of Alpine Screes: a Dataset from the EU Natura2000 habitat 8110 in the Italian Alps

Data collected between the 19th and the 21rd of July 2022, in Valfurva, 23030 (SO), Italy, within the Stelvio National Park, located inside the Natura 2000 SPA IT2040044. The data acquisition has been conducted by a team composed of both robotic engineers and plant scientists. The platform used to collect the data is the ANYmal C quadrupedal robot.   The dataset contains two different sets of data: 1) typical and early warning species data - videos of seven different typical species of the habitat 8110 and one early warning species. 2) monitoring mission data - video of the monitoring mission, robot status and point clouds, pictures and videos taken by the robot during the autonomous surveys.   This dataset has a multidisciplinary scope and can be used by researchers in several fields. For instance, point clouds and information about the robot state could be used by robotic engineers to test or validate their own methods as well as benchmark the robot performance. On the other hand, plant videos and images recorded by the robot could be used by botanists to assess the quality of this information as well as the habitat's conditions, or by computer scientists interested in testing their AI algorithms for species detection and classification.

opencc-by-4.0Nov 2019View details →

Fig. 1 in Alpine bullhead (Cottus poecilopus Heckel): a potential refuge for Gyrodactylus salaris Malmberg, 1957 (Monogenea)

Fig. 1. Effect of temperature on infection with Gyrodactylus salaris Malmberg, 1957 on alpine bullhead, Cottus poecilopus Heckel, from the River Nitelva, southeastern Norway. A – mean infection intensity and duration; B – the relationship between initial infection load (Day 0) and infection duration. Open circles = low temperature (6.5 ± 0.5 °C; n = 18); closed circles = high temperature (11.5 ± 0.3 °C; n = 9); vertical bars and values = range (minimum, maximum) and prevalence (%).

opencc-zeroOct 2023View details →

Monitoring wildlife population trends with sample counts: A case study on the Alpine ibex (Capra ibex)

Monitoring population dynamics is of fundamental importance in conservation but assessing trends in abundance can be costly, especially in large and rough areas. Obtaining trend estimations from counts performed in only a portion of the total area (sample counts) can be a cost-effective method to improve the monitoring and conservation of species difficult to count. We tested the effectiveness of sample counts in monitoring population trends of wild animals, using as a model population the Alpine ibex (Capra ibex) in the Gran Paradiso National Park (Italy), both with computer simulations and using historical count data collected over the last 65 years. Despite sample counts failed to correctly estimate the true population abundance, sampling half of the target area could reliably monitor the trend of the target population. In case of strong changes in abundance, an even lower proportion of the total area could be sufficient to identify the direction of the population trend. However, when there is a high yearly trend variability, the required number of samples increases and even counting in the entire area can be ineffective to detect population trends. The effect of other parameters, such as which portion of the area is sampled and detectability, was lower, but these should be tested case by case. Sample counts could therefore constitute a viable alternative to assess population trends, allowing for important, cost-effective improvements in the monitoring of wild animals of conservation interest.

publicDec 2023View details →

Data for: Interactions between temperature and predation impact insect emergence in alpine lakes

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