Evergreen broad-leaved woody species - indicators of climate change

Evergreen broad-leaved species are at their northern boundary of distribution in Central Europe. On the global scale, low winter temperatures play an important role limiting the distribution of evergreen broad-leaved vegetation towards the poles. In recent years, a global warming trend has been observed. The present work tracks range shifts of evergreen broad-leaved species in Northern and Central Europe, resulting from rising winter temperatures. At the landscape scale, this may implicate a considerable change in the composition and structure of temperate deciduous forests in various parts of Europe. Different biological mechanisms are demonstrated to play a role in limiting the single species' distribution at their northern range margins.

Autorentext

Dr. rer. nat. Silje Berger, born in Oslo, Norway, 1978, studied biology at the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover, Germany, and received her doctoral degree for her work on ecological impacts of climate change.