Alpine Botany - Climate change effects on alpine plant-pollinator interactions and its multitrophic consequences
Guest Editors
Judith Trunschke, Chair of Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology, University of Freiburg, Germany
Jake M. Alexander, Department of Environmental Systems Science, Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zürich, Switzerland
Robert R. Junker, University of Marburg, Germany
Gaku Kudo, Laboratory of Terrestrial Ecology, Faculty of Environmental Earth Science, Hokkaido University, Japan
Sarah Richman, Department of Environmental Systems Science, Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zürich, Switzerland
Irène Till-Bottraud, Laboratoire de Géographie Physique et Environnementale (GEOLAB), French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), Clermont Auvergne University, Clermont-Ferrand, France
Theme & Objectives
Worldwide, climate change confronts species with rapid alterations of their contemporary ecological niches. In high elevation mountain habitats, plants are particularly exposed given the accelerated speed of climatic changes and the limited opportunities to escape. For alpine plants that depend on pollinator service for seed production, the challenges are likely further augmented as disrupting contemporary plant-pollinator interactions have dramatic consequences for plant reproductive performance. Climate change may either directly, or indirectly through linked biotic interactions, affect plants and pollinators leading to modifications of the frequency and mode of interactions, or the complete extinction of either partner. Conversely, altered individual plant-pollinator interactions could change interrelations within the entire flowering community and pollination network as well as upscaling to other players within the biotic community. However, the complexity of how alpine multitrophic levels centered around pollination systems respond to climate change beyond the effects on individual species is only beginning to be studied and our understanding in this area is limited.
This special issue is dedicated to studies which investigate the impacts of climate change on alpine plants and their interactions with pollinating animals, its causes and its consequences in the light of the complexity of biotic multitrophic networks. In order to achieve a comprehensive framework for novel insights and discussions, we welcomed a broad spectrum of research including Original articles, Short communications, and Opinion papers, particularly Review articles (this opens in a new tab).
Students and Early Career Researchers (this opens in a new tab) were especially encouraged to submit to this special issue.
Studies will be centered around alpine systems. Potential topics include, but are not limited to, climate-change induced effects on:
- Temporal and spatial mismatches among plants and pollinators
- Functional traits involved in plant-pollinator interactions
- Pairwise or modules of plant-pollinator interactions
- Plant-pollinator interaction networks
- Multitrophic interactions including, in addition to plants and pollinators, microorganisms, herbivores, seed dispersers, pollinator parasites or predators
- Plastic responses and their ecological and evolutionary consequences.
EXPECTED PUBLICATION: 2024
(Accepted articles will be made available Online First (this opens in a new tab) on an ongoing basis.)
About the Guest Editors
Dr. Judith Trunschke (@JTrunschke (this opens in a new tab)), Chair of Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology at University of Freiburg, Germany, is fascinated by the enormous variety of floral forms and functions. In her research Dr. Trunschke address questions related to the origin of this diversity and how it is maintained. In specific, her research focuses on ecological and evolutionary questions in the context of plant-pollinator interactions such as how pollinators select on floral forms and functions, drive phenotypic divergence, and ultimately play a role for reproductive isolation and speciation. Dr. Trunschke is further interested in how variation in other biotic factors and the abiotic environment alter floral phenotypes and plant-pollinator interactions, and what are the consequences for plant reproductive success. She is particularly enthusiastic about orchids and alpine plants as study systems for their high level of specialization and their need to cope with challenging abiotic conditions and pollinator scarcity, respectively. As an experimental field ecologist, Dr. Trunschke is passionate about the study of natural populations, but she also combines this with greenhouse experiments and chemical ecology.
Prof. Dr. Jake M. Alexander’s research explores leading questions at the intersection of global challenges such as forecasting the spread of non-native plant invasions and predicting the response of native species to global climate change, rooted in a fundamental curiosity in the ecological and evolutionary factors that shape species distributions. His current work focuses on three core questions: How do species interactions shape plant community responses to climate change? What limits the spread and impacts of invasive species? To what extent can species evolve to rapidly changing climate?
Prof. Dr. Robert R. Junker (@rr_junker (this opens in a new tab)), is a plant ecologist working on community ecology, plant-animal and plant-microbe interactions and chemical ecology. One main interest is to understand microbial contributions to ecological processes. He is aiming at a better understanding of bacteria-assisted plant responses to changing environments and of microbial effects on the plant phenotype, the (functional) composition and (multi-)diversity of communities, and plant-animal interactions. Furthermore, Prof. Dr. Junker is investigating how plant traits shape microbial communities and interaction networks. Additional to basic research, his work is contributing towards efficient applications in agriculture and in the reduction of climate-driven natural hazards. Prof. Dr. Junker’s research and teaching combines fieldwork and experimental studies, chemical and molecular analyses, and is complemented by the development and application of statistical approaches.
Dr. Gaku Kudo’s main research interests are plant ecology, reproductive biology, and biological interaction.
Dr. Sarah Richman is a community ecologist interested in the interplay between climate change, shifting species distributions, and species interactions. She focuses on plant-pollinator interactions, both because of a lifelong adoration of flying insects and floral morphological diversity, and because pollination is essential for biodiversity maintenance and global food systems. Using a combination of observational and experimental approaches, Dr. Richman measures pollinator responses to a changing floral resource landscape in temperate mountain ecosystems: do they adapt to novel environments, move to more favorable habitats, or suffer the consequences of being unable to do either? Current projects are taking place at a field site in Canton Graubünden in the Swiss Alps, examining (1) how floral phenology affects bumblebee pollen preferences, determined using DNA metabarcoding, and (2) whether mountain topography and forest canopy structure provide suitable habitat heterogeneity to support temporally and nutritionally diverse floral resources for bumblebee colonies across their life cycles. In addition to research, she also performs teaching and mentoring duties in the ETH Plant Ecology Group.
Dr. Irène Till-Bottraud is an evolutionary ecologist. Her research strives to bridge the gap between evolution and ecology in particular by using ecology tools and concepts in evolutionary biology research, e.g. using functional traits for the study of the genetics of adaptation and the estimation of heritability and phenotypic plasticity, and by integrating an evolutionary vision in ecological studies such as the role of stress on the genetic structure of populations (effect of facilitation and competition on the relationship between close neighbours), biogeomorphological feedback loops, kin selection in plants or plant reproductive and pollination ecology. Dr. Till-Bottraud’s model systems are mostly alpine plants. Her work has direct applications in conservation biology.
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