Editing Environmental gradient (section)

== Impact of climate change ==
Current{{when|date=March 2023}} models predict that as [[climate change]] intensifies, certain environmental gradients may experience the effects as changing rates of natural processes or impacts on distribution and characteristics of species within them.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Pardi|first1=Melissa I.|last2=Graham|first2=Russell W.|date=2019|title=Changes in small mammal communities throughout the late Quaternary across eastern environmental gradients of the United States|url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1040618217314702|journal=Quaternary International|language=en|volume=530-531|pages=80–87|doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2018.05.041|bibcode=2019QuInt.530...80P|s2cid=134434800|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Wehn|first1=Sølvi|last2=Lundemo|first2=Sverre|last3=Holten|first3=Jarle I.|date=2014|title=Alpine vegetation along multiple environmental gradients and possible consequences of climate change|journal=Alpine Botany|language=en|volume=124|issue=2|pages=155–164|doi=10.1007/s00035-014-0136-9|s2cid=16764321|issn=1664-2201|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Henry|first1=P.|last2=Russello|first2=M. A.|date=2013|title=Adaptive divergence along environmental gradients in a climate‐change‐sensitive mammal|journal=Ecology and Evolution|language=en|volume=3|issue=11|pages=3906–3917|doi=10.1002/ece3.776|issn=2045-7758|pmc=3810883|pmid=24198948}}</ref> Given the interconnectedness of abiotic factors, long-term disturbances of one gradient have the possibility of affecting other gradients.

===Soil characteristics===
[[Soil respiration]], the process of soil naturally releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, acts as an example of this. In areas where soil moisture is not limiting (with moisture being a key part of the respiration process), soil respiration increases with rising temperatures; thus, respiration patterns form the gradient, and higher emissions are observed in warmer ecosystems. Similarly, rate of precipitation has a positive correlation with respiration (as moisture no longer becomes a limiting factor). Thus, it not only is its own gradient (average precipitation across a range), but also connects with the respiration gradient and impacts it.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Reynolds|first1=Lorien L.|last2=Johnson|first2=Bart R.|last3=Pfeifer‐Meister|first3=Laurel|last4=Bridgham|first4=Scott D.|date=2015|title=Soil respiration response to climate change in Pacific Northwest prairies is mediated by a regional Mediterranean climate gradient|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.12732|journal=Global Change Biology|language=en|volume=21|issue=1|pages=487–500|doi=10.1111/gcb.12732|pmid=25205511|bibcode=2015GCBio..21..487R|s2cid=205142081 |issn=1354-1013|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

===Altitude===
Altitude gradients are a key consideration in understanding migration patterns due to the effects of global warming. As temperatures increase, trees adapted to warmer climates will migrate uphill for access to sunlight, and thus populations of temperate or cold-adapted trees and the habitats suitable for them will shrink.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Ruiz-Labourdette|first1=Diego|last2=Nogués-Bravo|first2=David|last3=Ollero|first3=Helios Sáinz|last4=Schmitz|first4=María F.|last5=Pineda|first5=Francisco D.|date=2012|title=Forest composition in Mediterranean mountains is projected to shift along the entire elevational gradient under climate change: Forest dynamics under climate change|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2011.02592.x|journal=Journal of Biogeography|language=en|volume=39|issue=1|pages=162–176|doi=10.1111/j.1365-2699.2011.02592.x|s2cid=82037043 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>