FS 3.166: Alpine microclimates, biodiversity, and climate change

Cold-adapted organisms of above-treeline habitats have long been thought to be among those most threatened by climate change because warming temperatures may force them into a cul-de-sac situation, with nowhere to escape the heat. However, the recent emphasis on microclimate has put this paradigm up to debate, in particular for species exposed to the climate near the ground, which can markedly deviate from free-air conditions in the rugged alpine terrain. However, to which degree such fine-scale climatic variation may actually buffer cold-adapted flora and fauna of alpine and higher elevations against climate change remains yet to be explored. In this session we present studies that assess microclimatic effects on current as well as on past and predicted future changes to the distribution or performance of particular species or, more broadly, to alpine biodiversity patterns within or across taxonomic groups. Experimental, observational and model-based studies referring to any facet of biodiversity, from genetic to habitat, and from taxonomic to functional are welcome, as well as those that present methodological advances in evaluating the role of microclimates for alpine biodiversity in a changing climate.