Jan Eivind Østnes

Abstract Species interactions are fundamental to ecosystem functioning and shape responses to environmental change, yet they are rarely included in climate change predictions. In rapidly warming arctic and alpine regions, low complexity of food webs allows for improved predictions of climate change impacts by integrating species interactions.

1 Introduction Species interactions are at the foundation of ecosystem functioning, and they can play a role in mediating the impact of climate change on biodiversity (Åkesson et al. 2021; Alexander et al. 2015). Increasing temperature and changes in weather and precipitation patterns due to climate change (IPCC 2023) threaten biodiversity and ecosystem functions (Scheffers et al. 2016; Trew and Maclean 2021; Zhang et al. 2013).