Think globally, measure locally: The MIREN standardized protocol for monitoring plant species distributions along elevation gradients

Climate change and other global change drivers threaten plant diversity in mountains worldwide. A widely documented response to such environmental modifications is for plant species to change their elevational ranges. Range shifts are often idiosyncratic and difficult to generalize, partly due to variation in sampling methods. There is thus a need for a standardized monitoring strategy that can be applied across mountain regions to assess distribution changes and community turnover of native and non‐native plant species over space and time. Here, we present a conceptually intuitive and standardized protocol developed by the Mountain Invasion Research Network (MIREN) to systematically quantify global patterns of native and non‐native species distributions along elevation gradients and shifts arising from interactive effects of climate change and human disturbance. Usually repeated every five years, surveys consist of 20 sample sites located at equal elevation increments along three replicate roads per sampling region. At each site, three plots extend from the side of a mountain road into surrounding natural vegetation. The protocol has been successfully used in 18 regions worldwide from 2007 to present. Analyses of one point in time already generated some salient results, and revealed region‐specific elevational patterns of native plant species richness, but a globally consistent elevational decline in non‐native species richness. Non‐native plants were also more abundant directly adjacent to road edges, suggesting that disturbed roadsides serve as a vector for invasions into mountains. From the upcoming analyses of time series, even more exciting results can be expected, especially about range shifts. Implementing the protocol in more mountain regions globally would help to generate a more complete picture of how global change alters species distributions. This would inform conservation policy in mountain ecosystems, where some conservation policies remain poorly implemented.

An Internet-based platform for the estimation of outcrossing potential between cultivated and Chilean vascular plants

A national‐scale study of outcrossing potential within Chilean vascular flora was conducted using an upgraded algorithm, which adds parameters such as pollinator agents, climate, and geographic conditions. Datasets were organized and linked in a Web platform (www.flujogenico.cl), in which the development of a total outcrossing potential (TOP) predictor was formulated. The TOP predictor is the engine in the Web platform, which models the effect of a type of agricultural practice on others (coexistence calculation mode) and on the environment (biodiversity calculation mode). The scale for TOP results uses quintiles in order to define outcrossing potential between species as “very low,” “low,” “medium,” “high,” or “very high.” In a coexistence analysis considering 256 species (207 genera), the 10 highest TOP values were for genera Citrus, Prunus, Trifolium, Brassica, Allium, Eucalyptus, Cucurbita, Solanum, Lollium, and Lotus. The highest TOP for species in this analysis fell at “high” potential, 4.9% of the determined values. In biodiversity mode, seven out of 256 cultivated species (2.7%) were native, and 249 (97.3%) corresponded to introduced species. The highest TOP was obtained in the genera Senecio, Calceolaria, Viola, Solanum, Poa, Alstroemeria, Valeriana, Vicia, Atriplex, and Campanula, showing “high” potential in 4.9% of the values. On the other hand, 137 genetically modified species, including the commercial and pre‐commercial developments, were included and represented 100 genera. Among these, 22 genera had relatives (i.e., members of the same genus) in the native/introduced group. The genera with the highest number of native/introduced relatives ranged from one (Ipomea, Limonium, Carica, Potentilla, Lotus, Castanea, and Daucus) to 66 species (Solanum). The highest TOP was obtained when the same species were coincident in both groups, such as for Carica chilensis, Prosopis tamarugo, and Solanum tuberosum. Results are discussed from the perspective of assessing the possible impact of cultivated species on Chilean flora biodiversity. The TOP predictor (http://epc.agroinformatica.cl/) is useful in the context of environmental risk assessment.