Plants are moving at higher altitudes: the study broadens
In 2025, the botanists of the Civic Museum of Rovereto, Giulia Tomasi and Alessio Bertolli, continued their survey campaign After an initial phase focused on the Natural Parks and the Trentine Dolomites, thanks to the collaboration of the Parks and the Department of Agronomy, Animals, Food, Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Padua (2022–2023), the “Flora di Vetta” project expanded in 2024 to cover the entire UNESCO World Heritage Site territory, also thanks to the contribution of the UNESCO Dolomites Foundation. Once again, the survey revealed surprises, particularly in the upward shift of many species—a tangible sign of the effects of climate change.
The latest data
Over the past two years, the two botanists have reached the summits of Moiazza, Civetta, Pelmo, Antelao, Tofana di Mezzo, Marmolada, and Sass Rigais, applying a detailed survey protocol that requires several hours of work each time. In total, 1,174 floristic records were collected, all carefully georeferenced using GPS. A total of 120 vascular plant species were recorded, including 14 alpine endemic species. Among these, 40 absolute altitude records were documented, based on comparisons with data from the Flora di Vetta project (2022–2023), the Flora del Trentino (Prosser et al., 2019) project, and altitude records of alpine endemic species (Bertolli et al., 2024). Ten of the most significant records related to alpine endemic species.
Marmolada hosts the altitude record for saxifraga facchinii
As an example to the above, Saxifraga facchinii was found near the summit of Marmolada, at 3,341 meters, up from the previous record of 3,215 meters. This alpine endemic species has a limited distribution range between Trentino-Alto Adige and the Belluno area. However, the greatest difference when compared with the previous survey was noted with Poa nemoralis, which “climbed” by 317 meters, reaching 2,987 meters, less than forty meters below the summit of Sass Rigais. Another notable record was recorded on Antelao with Sesleria sphaerocephala subsp. leucocephala. Last year, it had appeared to have dropped from 3,172 meters in the alpine endemic survey to 2,980 meters, but the 2025 data relocated it to 3,257 meters.
The commentary: results as expected but no lack of surprises.
Alessio Bertolli, the results obtained will have to be sorted and studied more carefully. However, at first glance, how predictable where they and how much did they surprise you?
The results obtained were partly expected, but they still gave us some significant surprises. On one hand, we knew that climate change is pushing many plant species to ever-higher elevations, so we expected to find some evidence of this trend. On the other hand, the number of altitude records we documented exceeded our expectations. This is partly because many of the areas surveyed are difficult to access and have historically been little explored. The combination of a rapidly changing environment and more thorough sampling allowed us to observe phenomena that were partly known, but with a scale and frequency that still surprised us. In short, the results confirm some expected trends, while also clearly highlighting their urgency and magnitude.
Is it already possible to quantify the impact of climate change on the total number of upward shifts in elevation that you have recorded?
The University of Padua, with Professor Lorenzo Marini, is analysing the collected data to relate the recorded altitude records to various environmental and climatic factors. We are now awaiting the preliminary results of this analysis to gain a clearer picture.
The project now enters a phase focused on publishing the results and promoting awareness, including raising public attention to the issue of climate change. Will the surveys also continue?
In the coming years, we will repeat surveys on these summits using the same protocol, which will allow us to compare the new data with those already collected. With this re-sampling, we will most likely obtain interesting results, as the changes appear to be occurring rapidly.
This activity is part of the project “Capacity building. Strengthening the social and regional capital of the Dolomites World Heritage Site (WHS) for lasting and sustainable development of local communities”, established with the support of Fondo Comuni Confinanti.
