BEIJING, March 21 (Xinhua) -- Researchers have disclosed that alpine plant species tend to move to higher elevation and latitude areas.

A research team from Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences cooperated with overseas institutes in conducting an analysis of 17 alpine plants at altitudes from 2,000 to 5,600 meters in the Himalayas and the Hengduan Mountains, based on analysis of historical specimen records and species distribution modeling.

The researchers predicted that the distributions of the species will shift upward in elevation and northward in latitude with global climate change. The species will also expand the size of their range.

Alpine species are sensitive to climate change, according to their study published in the journals Plant Diversity and Ecology and Evolution. The researchers estimated that the species would face extinction if global temperatures continued to rise.