How glacier retreat is threatening alpine wildlife

2023-05-04 16:31:00

With the melting of the glaciers, cold-water species are increasingly losing their habitat in the Alps. The remaining habitats are poorly protected, as a new international study in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution shows. Invertebrates such as stoneflies and flatworms living in the meltwater rivers are important components of the alpine ecosystem, as the authors from Switzerland, Austria, Italy and Great Britain write in the published study.

The animals serve as a food source for other animals such as fish, amphibians, birds and mammals. A decline or loss of these invertebrate species can therefore have far-reaching impacts on all alpine wildlife.

Almost 30 meters of length lost: “Record melt” on Austria’s glaciers

INNSBRUCK. The “eternal ice”, which will no longer exist in a few decades, had to accept a “record melt” in the period 2021/2022.

Almost 30 meters of length lost: “Record melt” on Austria’s glaciers

Rivers are getting warmer in the long term

For the study, the researchers collected data on glacier changes, landscape changes and biodiversity in the entire Alpine region and simulated how the most important invertebrate populations in the mountains will change between 2020 and 2100 due to climate change. Leopold Füreder from the Faculty of Biology at the University of Innsbruck was also involved in the analysis.

According to the calculations, some rivers will carry more water in the short term. However, over a period of several decades, most watercourses will become drier. In addition, the water in the Alpine rivers is warming up. For the invertebrates living in the cold water, this means an escape to the highest areas of the mountains.

challenges for nature conservation

According to the study, the majority of the remaining retreat areas for the cold-water species are outside of nature reserves. Less than 12 percent of the cold-water invertebrate habitats identified for the year 2100 are under protection.

“This results in new challenges for the protection of biodiversity,” write the authors. Areas where glaciers persist into the late 21st century are likely to be prioritized for human activities such as hydroelectric power plants and ski resorts. More intensive monitoring of biological diversity in Alpine rivers is therefore urgently needed.