The Rock Partridge (Alectoris graeca) is a gamebird of global conservation concern. Knowledge of the species’ diet remains limited across its distribution. This study investigated seasonal, altitudinal, and age-related variation in the diet of...
Urochloa brizantha (Brizantha) is cultivated under varying altitudinal and management conditions. Twelve full-sun (monoculture) plots and twelve shaded (silvopastoral) plots were established, proportionally distributed at 170, 503, 661, and 1110 masl...
Pinus oocarpa Schiede ex Schltdl. is the most important resin-producing conifer in Mexico, yet its morphological variation and seed transfer guidelines remain poorly defined for the Sierra Madre del Sur (SMS). This study evaluated variation in cone,...
This study investigated the influence of different pectin concentrations (0%, 0.1%, and 0.5%) on the physicochemical, antioxidant, and sensory properties of blackberry jam (Rubus fruticosus L.) prepared from fruits harvested at three altitudinal loca...
Grasslands in Greece are vital for biodiversity, ecosystem services, and extensive livestock production due to their forage resources. This study examined the seasonal variations and differences between two years in terms of grazeable forage producti...
Exploring the changes in plant leaf functional traits in response to altitude across various altitudinal gradients of climax communities in karst regions can elucidate the characteristics of survival strategy adaptations among plant communities. This...
We examined fungal communities in soil profiles of 0–10 cm depth along the altitudinal gradient of 250–530–990 m.a.s.l. at the Central Negev Desert, Israel, which benefit from similar annual precipitation (95 mm). In the soil sample...
Potentilla erecta (L.) Raeusch. is a widely used medicinal species valued for its astringent, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial effects. This study examined the variation in hydrolysable tannin and flavonoid content in rhizomes of wild-growing pop...
The blackberry poses a threat as an invasive plant in various regions worldwide, where it aggressively competes with native species and risks delicate ecosystems. Livestock grazing has emerged as a potential strategy to mitigate its spread. This stud...
Geographical variation in morphological traits represents a significant ecological phenomenon. According to Allen’s rule, animals inhabiting cooler environments typically exhibit shorter extremities compared to those in warmer regions. While Al...
Most endemic plant species have limited altitudinal ranges. At higher altitudes, they are subjected to various environmental stresses. However, these plants use unique defense mechanisms at high altitudes as a convenient survival strategy. The change...
The environmental heterogeneity caused by altitude can lead to trade-offs in nutrient utilization and allocation strategies among plant organs; however, there is still a lack of research on the nutrient variation in the “flower–leaf&ndash...
Platanus mexicana is a dominant arboreal species of riparian ecosystems. These ecosystems are associated with altitudinal gradients that can generate genetic differences in the species, especially in the extremes of the distribution. However, studie...
In maize, we studied the causes of genome size variation and their correlates with cultivation altitude that suggests the existence of adaptive clines. To discuss the biological role of the genome size variation, we focused on Bolivian maize landrace...
The relationship between altitudinal and ecological gradients has long been a dominant theme in plant ecology; moreover, how species respond to climate change has renewed this interest. Mediterranean mountains are often hotspots of endemism, and some...
Understanding the complex interplay among altitudinal gradients, tree species diversity, structural attributes, and soil carbon (C) is critical for effective coniferous forest management and climate change mitigation. This study addresses a knowledge...
The variations in the snowpack in water towers of the world due to climate change have threatened the amount and timing of freshwater supplied downstream. However, it remains to be further investigated whether snowpack variation in water towers exhib...
Leaf nutrient resorption traits are regarded as important indicators reflecting the strategy of plant nutrient conservation, yet the mechanism underlying the variation of resorption traits in different plant growth forms (PGFs) remains unclear. In or...
This research delves into the impact of climate change on the wood traits of Cunninghamia lanceolata across various altitudinal gradients, aiming to understand the influence of altitude and climatic factors like temperature and precipitation on key w...
This research examined how edaphoclimatic variations are related to dendrometric variables of the Tara tree in natural and agroforestry systems in Cajamarca, Peru. Evaluations followed three approaches: (a) principal components analysis (PCA) with en...
Environmental factors affect plant physiological processes. Understanding these factors can increase productivity, especially in tropical mountain ecosystems, where they vary with altitude. This study aimed to analyze the physiological variations rel...
The Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau is the highest plateau in the world and is sensitive to climate change. The dynamics of soil enzyme activities and microbial communities are good indicators of alpine biochemical processes during warming. We collected tops...
Bamboo shoots, as the most nutritionally valuable food source for giant pandas during key reproductive seasons, are critical for conservation because their availability and timing directly influence panda foraging and habitat use. However, the molecu...
Climatic classification is essential for evaluating climate parameters that allow sustainable urban planning and resource management in countries with difficult access to meteorological information. Clustering methods are on trend to identify climate...
Celtis australis is an important agroforestry tree in the Himalayan region providing major fodder to the livestock and many other needs for sustaining life in local rural communities. Including their fodder value and wide altitudinal distribution ran...
Against the background of global warming, forests across environmental gradients show distinct responses to climate change, necessitating research on tree growth patterns under specific conditions. Climate and competition are critical factors affecti...
Studying the altitudinal variation and driving factors of soil acid phosphomonoesterase (ACP) activity in subalpine regions is crucial for understanding nutrient cycling processes within mountainous ecosystems. This study focused on fir (Abies fabri...
Species endemic to mountains on oceanic islands are subject to a number of existing threats (in particular, invasive species) along with the impacts of a rapidly changing climate. The Lord Howe Island endemic palm Hedyscepe canterburyana is restricte...
Eyespots are functionally complex and highly variable elements of butterfly wing patterns. The Meadow Brown, Maniola jurtina, is a classic model species studied for variation in eyespots as an index of evolutionary divergence and adaptation. However,...
How insect organs change along environmental gradients is a central ecological question, yet most altitudinal size work stops at the organismal level. We asked how the chalcidoid forewing varies along a 278–4236 m transect in Northwestern China...
Soil fungi serve as key mediators of belowground ecological processes; however, the altitudinal distribution patterns and their driving mechanisms of soil fungal communities in alpine shrubland ecosystems remain poorly understood. In this study, soil...
This study aimed to characterize the mitochondrial (MT) genome of Tibetan fragrant chickens along an altitudinal gradient and to relate it to meat quality. Eighteen 150-day-old male chickens were selected from three groups (LX, 1500 m; MX, 2800 m; HX...
Juglans neotropica Diels, classified as endangered on the IUCN Red List, plays a crucial role in the resilience of Andean montane forests in southern Ecuador—a megadiverse region encompassing coastal, Andean, and Amazonian ecosystems. This stud...
Snow cover in the Himalayas plays a vital role in regulating elevation-dependent climate processes and sustaining downstream hydrology. However, its altitude-specific dynamics and implications for snow mass balance remain underexplored. Using the MOD...
Norway spruce (Picea abies [L.] Karst.) is a paleoecologically relevant species in the Northern Hemisphere since the early Holocene. P. abies populations are sensitive to climate fluctuations; Asian treeline species are under nature protection. The t...
Understanding how plant community characteristics and soil properties vary along altitudinal gradients is essential for ecosystem conservation, restoration, and for predicting ecosystem responses to global environmental change. This study investigate...
Plants have evolved several metabolic pathways as a response to environmental stressors such as low temperatures. In this perspective, it is paramount to highlight physiological mechanisms of plant responses to altitudinal gradients as a proxy to eva...
Understanding the relationship between modern pollen assemblages and vegetation/climate for various elevations is essential for accurately interpreting fossil pollen records and conducting quantitative climate reconstructions in mountainous regions....
Photosynthesis and its sensitivity to the changing environment in alpine regions are of great significance to the understanding of vegetation–environment interactions and other global ecological processes in the context of global change, while their...
Phenology is an important ecological feature that can be influenced by many aspects. Mountainous regions are great sites to perform studies to help the understanding of the reproductive cycle of plants and herbivores. In this work, the phenological c...
Chinese honey bees (Apis cerana cerana Fabricius, 1793) are crucial native pollinators in China, with substantial ecological and economic value. Their morphological traits may vary along altitudinal gradients, particularly in hilly regions such as Wa...
C. sinensis (L.) Osbeck is grown in large-scale, in-home gardens of traditional agroforestry systems in the Garhwal Himalaya. The present investigation of C. sinensis was conducted on the basis of twenty-six populations in different home gardens loca...
Extreme altitudinal gradients are natural experiments for testing how environmental gradients shape genomic variation, yet remain poorly characterised in high-altitude reptiles. We analysed whole-genome resequencing data (~17×) from 44 rock aga...
Although fungi occupy only a small proportion of the microbial community in the intestinal tract of mammals, they play important roles in host fat accumulation, nutrition metabolism, metabolic health, and immune development. Here, we investigated the...
An accurate estimation of the leaf area index (LAI) by satellite remote sensing is essential for studying the spatial variation of ecosystem structure. The goal of this study was to estimate the spatial variation of LAI over a forested catchment in a...
Asarum (Asarum sieboldii Miq. f. seoulense (Nakai) C. Y. Cheng et C. S. Yang) is a medicinal plant that contains asarinin and sesamin, which possess extensive medicinal value. The adaptation and distribution of Asarum’s plant growth are signifi...
Gaining a deep understanding of how climate change affects the carbon cycle in dryland vegetation is of utmost importance, as it plays a pivotal role in shaping the overall carbon cycle in global ecosystems. It is currently not clear how plant commun...
We analyzed the alpha and beta components of male Trichoptera diversity along an altitudinal gradient ranging from 136 to 2432 m a.s.l. by studying five assemblages of adult male caddisflies in five streams of the Sierra de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mex...
Invasive plants have already been observed in the understory of mountain forests, which are often considered a safe shelter for most native plants. Microorganisms might be drivers of plant invasions. Nevertheless, the mechanisms determining variation...
Morphological traits, as core components of functional traits, are fundamental in determining environmental adaptability. However, under climate warming, the adaptive morphological changes and associated ecological risks of locust populations migrati...
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