Wessely, Johannes 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7753-3532; Chytrý, Kryštof ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4113-6564; Gattringer, Andreas ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7187-9508; Hausharter, Johannes ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5982-9003; Helm, Norbert ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4732-7399; Hülber, Karl ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9274-1647; Moser, Dietmar ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2745-7508; Abdaladze, Otar ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8140-0900; Andrews, Christopher ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2428-272X; Barni, Elena ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7256-0064; Barolin, Debora ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-1311-1815; Benito-Alonso, José-Luis ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1086-8834; von Büren, Raphael S. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9129-642X; Carbognani, Michele ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7701-9859; Carnicero, Pau ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8345-3309; Di Cecco, Valter ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9862-1267; Choler, Philippe ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9062-2721; Dick, Jan ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4180-9338; Fernández-Calzado, Rosa ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-6764-840X; De Frenne, Pieter ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8613-0943; Lino, Mary Carolina García ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9478-4210; Ghosn, Dany ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1898-9681; Gigauri, Khatuna ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6707-0818; Graae, Bente J.; Hilpold, Andreas ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0262-8080; Jiménez, Juan J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2398-0796; Kagerl, Katharina ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1077-0669; Kanka, Róbert ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7071-7280; Kollár, Jozef ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0069-4220; Lamprecht, Andrea ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8719-026X; Lembrechts, Jonas ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1933-0750; Lenoir, Jonathan ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0638-9582; Lorite, Juan ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4617-8069; Nyktas, Panagiotis ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9571-1440; Pușcaș, Mihai ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2632-640X; Randin, Christophe F.; Rixen, Christian ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2486-9988; Rossi, Graziano ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5102-5019; Saccone, Patrick ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8820-593X; Ursu, Tudor Mihai; Vanneste, Thomas ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5296-917X; Varricchione, Marco ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4716-6609; Vittoz, Pascal ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4218-4517; Winkler, Manuela ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8655-9555; Wipf, Sonja ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3492-1399; Pauli, Harald ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9842-9934; Dullinger, Stefan ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3919-0887.
2026
Rising plant extinction rates on European mountain summits.
Science, 393 (6815).
1021-1026.
10.1126/science.aed2974
Climate change increases plant species richness in alpine ecosystems. However, to what extent this diversity enrichment masks extinction dynamics of resident species remains elusive. In this study, we used floristic resurvey data from 896 permanent vegetation plots across 62 European mountain summits to show that local extinctions have increased over the past 21 years. Extinction rates rose with the magnitude of warming, and species were more likely to go extinct toward their low-elevation range margins and in communities undergoing stronger thermophilization. Moreover, local extinctions were significantly related to preceding abundance declines, which can serve as an early warning signal. These findings suggest that despite increasing plant species richness, plant assemblages above the treeline face an accelerating but so far neglected loss of their most characteristic species.
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.
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