Functionally distinct assembly of vascular plants colonizing alpine cushions suggests their vulnerability to climate change

摘要

Alpine cushion plants can initially facilitate other species during ecological succession, but later on can be negatively affected by their development, especially when beneficiaries possess traits allowing them to overrun their host. This can be reinforced by accelerated warming favouring competitively strong species over cold-adapted cushion specialists. However, little empirical research has addressed the trait-based mechanisms of these interactions. The ecological strategies of plants colonizing the cushion plant (Caryophyllaceae), a dominant pioneer of subnival zones, were studied in the Western Himalayas.