Austrian Academy of Sciences (Institute for Interdisciplinary Mountain Research) and the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (Center for Global Change and Sustainability), Austria. Recent findings On a pan-European scale, repeated surveys showed widespread thermophilisation of alpine vegetation, i.e., species compositions changed towards a larger percentage of thermophilous species at a concurrent decline of cold-adapted high-elevation species. Across Europe, species predominantly were shifting to higher elevations during the past decade. In central and northern Europe, this led to increasing species numbers in the permanent plots, whereas in Mediterranean mountains, species numbers were stagnating or declining, probably owing to combined effects of increasing temperatures and decreasing precipitation. Recent declines of high elevation specialist species, however, were also observed in the European Alps. Comparisons with results from other continents are not yet available on a larger scale, because permanent sites were established at a later date. See also Effects of global warming Alpine plant Alpine climate References External links International home page Paper on U.S. participation GLORIA Andes Climatological research Projects established in 2001