Abstract
The montane and alpine regions of the world cover about 10% of the terrestrial area, a life zone ca. 1000 m above and below the climatic treelines in temperate and tropical latitudes, including some of the biologically richest ecosystems. The alpine life zone above the climatic treeline hosts a vast biological richness, exceeding that of many low elevation biota and covers 3% of the global terrestrial land area (Körner 1995). The overall global vascular plant species richness of the alpine life zone alone was estimated to be around 10,000 species, 4% of the global number of higher plant species. No such estimates exist for animals but based on flowering plants, high elevation biota are, as a general rule, richer in species than might be expected from the land area they cover.
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Spehn, E.M., Körner, C. (2005). A Global Assessment of Mountain Biodiversity and its Function. In: Huber, U.M., Bugmann, H.K.M., Reasoner, M.A. (eds) Global Change and Mountain Regions. Advances in Global Change Research, vol 23. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3508-X_39
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3508-X_39
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