Climate Change and Temperatures Threaten Cloud Forests in Peru

Peru's cloud forests hold some of the most biologically diverse ecosystems in the world. The toucan, the mountain tapir, the speckled bear and the orange-eyed night monkey all call this region home. In fact, researchers are discovering new species in the Andes Mountains constantly. Now, though, this diversity may be in danger.  Scientists have discovered that rapid warming may spell disaster for tree species in Peruvian cloud forests.

With its high elevation and remote location, it's unsurprising that scientists continually discover new species of animals on the slopes of the Andes Mountains. The area is difficult to reach for study, which means that many species remain largely undisturbed. Yet the remoteness of the location also means that these animals have nowhere to turn as climate conditions shift.

The habitats of most Andean plants are determined largely by temperature. This, in turn, means that the habitats of the species that call these forests home are also determined by these conditions. Due to the steep terrain in the Andes, temperatures can change quickly, which means that the vast majority of trees and plants can only live in a range that extents a few hundred meters.

"I could be standing among a group of one tree species and throw a rock completely across their ranges," said David Lutz, one of the researchers, in a news release.

Historically, Andean cloud forest seedlings actually sprout higher in elevation during warming periods. When these temperatures warm by an unprecedented rate, though, these seedlings may venture upslope faster than ever before. Since the region is expected to warm by 5 degrees Celsius over the next century, this could spell quite a few problems for the forest.

The main issue is that the trees can only go so far as higher elevation grasslands bar the path upslope. Unlike the cloud forest beneath it, the transition between trees and grassland is stationary over most of the landscape. Even in the face of recorded temperature changes, this line has not shifted much. Assuming no additional changes in climactic factors other than temperature, though, the timberline would need to migrate around 900 meters in elevation to keep pace with the cloud forest beneath it.

Needless to say, this is troubling. In the recent study, the researchers found that this shift in timberline would take 3,750 years in protected areas and 18,000 years in unprotected areas. At the rate that temperatures are warming, this is obviously an impossible task.

As the climate changes it's important to understand how ecosystems respond. The warmer temperatures will drastically impact the cloud forests of Peru, which means that new strategies will be needed to help preserve them.

"Intervention is a strategy conservationists seldom use in this ecosystem but it may be the only way to save it," said Lutz. "Our next step is working with local and international conservationists to come up with a plan to help cloud forests keep moving upslope."

The findings are published in the journal PLOS One.