Strong upslope shifts in Chimborazo's vegetation over two centuries since Humboldt

Tropical regions harbor the majority of the world's biodiversity, but there is debate about whether montane species here are able to track global warming at the same rate as in temperate regions. By following in Humboldt's footsteps and revisiting his pioneering documentation of vegetation elevation ranges, we show that the limit of plant growth has already been strongly pushed upslope. Although the rate of plant range shifts matches that found in other studies, the total magnitude of change in vegetation and glacier coverage on Chimborazo is larger than expected from warming temperatures alone.