Horizontal cliffs: mountaintop mining and climate change

Poleward and upward shifts in ranges in plant and animal species are amongst the most confident impacts of climate change on terrestrial ecosystems. While mountain tops have long been recognised as an important limit in this regard, the implications of the practice of mountaintop removal mining, i.e., acting counter to the upward shift of species, have yet to be considered. In regions where climate warming and mountaintop mining occur together, species face increased risk of range contraction and local extinction.