Wild and domesticated animal abundance is associated with greater late-Holocene alpine plant diversity
Understanding the drivers of plant diversity in montane regions is critical amid ongoing climate and land-use change. Using sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) from 14 lakes records across the European Alps, we tracked 603 plant taxa and 11 mammal species over the past 14,000 years. Our models show that wild ungulates and cattle have had a stronger influence on alpine plant diversity than temperature, particularly in the last 2,000 years. These findings underscore the long-term ecological impact of herbivores and provide insight into strategies for managing biodiversity under future land-use pressure.
Christoph Schwörer, Boris Vannière, Lieveke van Vugt, Willy Tinner
