Evergreen broad-leaved woody species - indicators of climate change

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Evergreen broad-leaved species are at their northern boundary of distribution in Central Europe. On the global scale, low winter temperatures play an important role limiting the distribution of evergreen broad-leaved vegetation towards the poles. In recent years, a global warming trend has been observed. The present work tracks range shifts of evergreen broad-leaved species in Northern and Central Europe, resulting from rising winter temperatures. At the landscape scale, this may implicate a considerable change in the composition and structure of temperate deciduous forests in various parts of Europe. Different biological mechanisms are demonstrated to play a role in limiting the single species' distribution at their northern range margins.