Conclusions
In our study, drier conditions at lower elevations drove the demographic
responses of alpine plants. Thus, alpine species with large size and
conservative water use were more likely to benefit from the climate
change. Both morphological and eco-physiological traits were successful
in separating the “winners” of climate change from the “losers”. Our
study shows that while easy-to-measure morphological traits can generate
successful predictions of demographic responses to climate,
eco-physiological knowledge allows us to understand the mechanism behind
the trait-environment relationships.