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The Distribution of Cool Spots as Microrefugia in a Mountainous Area
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| Title: | The Distribution of Cool Spots as Microrefugia in a Mountainous Area |
| Authors: | Shimokawabe, Ayuma Browse this author | | Yamaura, Yuichi Browse this author →KAKEN DB | | Akasaka, Takumi Browse this author | | Sato, Tomonori Browse this author | | Shida, Yuichiro Browse this author | | Yamanaka, Satoshi Browse this author | | Nakamura, Futoshi Browse this author →KAKEN DB |
| Issue Date: | 19-Aug-2015 |
| Publisher: | PLOS |
| Journal Title: | PLoS ONE |
| Volume: | 10 |
| Issue: | 8 |
| Start Page: | e0135732 |
| Publisher DOI: | 10.1371/journal.pone.0135732 |
| Abstract: | It has recently been proposed that microrefugia played an important role in species survival during past climate change events. However, the current distributions of microrefugia remain largely unknown. Wind-hole sites are areas affected by preferential flows of cool air generated in interstitial spaces created by rock fragments or colluvia. Alpine plant species occurring in lowland wind-hole sites isolated from alpine zones may be relicts of the last glacial period. Hokkaido, northern Japan, is known to contain many wind-hole sites in which alpine plant species can occur. Here we surveyed 55 wind-hole sites in the Kitami region, eastern Hokkaido, and observed two alpine plant species (lingonberry, Vaccinium vitis-idaea, and Labrador tea, Rhododendron groenlandicum ssp. diversipilosum var. diversipilosum) in 14 wind-hole sites. Statistical modeling showed that wind-hole sites are likely to occur in areas with high maximum slope angles and volcanic rock cover, and concave surfaces. Our predictions of wind-hole site distributions suggest that such topographic conditions are common in our study area, and that many undiscovered wind-hole sites exist. Ignoring microhabitats may greatly underestimate species distributions in topographically complex regions, and dispersed cool spots may also function as stepping stones and temporal habitats for cold-adapted species. Because these localized unique habitats usually occur in economically unproductive sites, identifying and protecting potential microrefugia (cool spots) would be a robust and cost-effective mitigation of climate change impacts. |
| Rights: | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| Type: | article |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/2115/59888 |
| Appears in Collections: | 農学院・農学研究院 (Graduate School of Agriculture / Faculty of Agriculture) > 雑誌発表論文等 (Peer-reviewed Journal Articles, etc)
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Submitter: 中村 太士
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