Alpine Plants on the Move
Scientists say alpine meadow and fell-field ecosystems are changing under atmospheric warming. On this site at 3,000 meters(9,843 feet) in the Austrian Alps, botanist Harald Pauli and researchers are finding that plant species have been increasing and decreasing at different rates over a 10-year period. Essentially, the familiar alpine wildflower fields are being fragmented and rearranged, according to the researchers. This is especially dangerous for plants forced to move upward where there is just rock and ice, Pauli says. "We are running into a really serious loss of biodiversity," he explains. This alpine research has expanded worldwide into GLORIA -- the Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments. The glaciers visible on the distant mountains have also receded many meters per year recently.