Unique and highly threatened - endemic plants at the cold edge of southern Europe
Andrea Lamprecht, GLORIA Coordination - Center for Global Change and Sustainability, Institute for Interdisciplinary Mountain Research (IGF) & University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), ÖAW - Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna (AT)
The Spanish Sierra Nevada National Park hosts an extraordinarily rich flora of endemic plant species - many being restricted to high elevations above 2800m. Given their limited distribution area and adaptation to low-temperature conditions, these species are at extremely high risk of losing their habitat through amplifying climate change. We will show recent changes in endemic species occurrences and abundances in GLORIA permanent monitoring plots and will discuss the risk of biodiversity losses through climate change, conservation practices and land use impacts.