Climate change affects colonization dynamics in a metacommunity of three Daphnia species

Abstract

Climate change is expected to alter the range and abundance of many species by influencing habitat qualities. For species living in fragmented populations, not only the quality of the present patches but also access to new habitat patches may be affected. Here, we show that colonization in a metacommunity can be directly influenced by weather changes, and that these observed weather changes are consistent with global climate change models. Using a long-term dataset from a rock pool metacommunity of the three species Daphnia magna, Daphnia longispina and Daphnia pulex with 507 monitored habitat patches, we correlated a four-fold increase in colonization rate with warmer, drier weather for the period from 1982 to 2006. The higher colonization rate after warm and dry summers led to an increase in metacommunity dynamics over time. A mechanistic explanation for the increased colonization rate is that the resting stages have a higher exposure to animal and wind dispersal in desiccated rock pools. Although colonization rates reacted in the same direction in all three species, there were significant species-specific effects that resulted in an overall change in the metacommunity composition. Increased local instability and colonization dynamics may even lead to higher global stability of the metacommunity. Thus, whereas climate change has been reported to cause a unidirectional change in species range for many other species, it changes the dynamics and composition of an entire community in this metacommunity, with winners and losers difficult to predict.

The influence of pool volume and summer desiccation on the production of the resting and dispersal stage in a Daphnia metapopulation

“…Several diapause termination cues occur per year (Pajunen and Pajunen 2003). In accordance to other publications, we deWne local extinction to have occurred when no Daphnia have been observed within an 18-month period (Altermatt et al 2008;Pajunen and Pajunen 2003). An average population persists for about 3-5 years (Pajunen and Pajunen 2003).…”

“…In contrast, a diVerent type of model focuses on condition-dependent dispersal that includes ecological, genetic and social factors (Clobert et al 2001). Empirical studies are starting to incorporate factors such as, for example, the genetic predisposition of becoming a migrant (Haag et al 2005), increased dispersal from heavily disturbed patches (Bates et al 2006), changes in dispersal dynamics due to climate change (Altermatt et al 2008) and a higher success of immigrants due to local parasites (Altermatt et al 2007) or hybrid vigor (Ebert et al 2002). These studies illustrate that it is important to know which factors inXuence dispersal and migrant production to better understand the dynamics of metapopulations.…”

Long-term changes in metapopulation genetic structure: a quarter-century retrospective study on low-Arctic rock poolDaphnia

“…Such studies are critically needed, given the current evidence for global change (ACIA 2005;Altermatt et al 2008). A recent study by Altermatt et al (2008) in the Tvärminne rock pool Daphnia system has demonstrated that both metapopulation and metacommunity dynamics can be greatly affected by climate changes impacting these systems. Climate change, which influences local weather patterns, can cause long-term fluctuations not only in temperature but also precipitation.…”

“…Work done by Pajunen & Pajunen (2003, 2007 and colleagues (Haag et al 2005(Haag et al , 2006Altermatt et al 2008) studied the dynamic nature of Daphnia metapopulations in a large set of Finnish rock pools (n ¼ 507) scattered across islands in the Tvärminne archipelago over a 17-year period. Interestingly, Pajunen & Pajunen (2003) found that 47 per cent of the Daphnia populations (consisting of three species-Daphnia longispina, Daphnia magna and D. pulex) in 1982 still persisted in 1998 in their original rock pools.…”

Climatic warming increases voltinism in European butterflies and moths

“…Facing a period of global climate change (IPCC 2007), a series of concurrent biological phenomena are commonly reported, including altered geographical ranges, colonization dynamics, abundances and phenologies of many organisms (Hill et al 1999;Parmesan et al 1999;Walther et al 2002;Parmesan & Yohe 2003;IPCC 2007;Altermatt et al 2008). Phenological changes such as earlier flowering or earlier start of reproduction are among the best-studied warming-related changes in lifehistory traits, because they are relatively easy to track, and a direct causality is well accepted (Roy & Sparks 2000;Walther et al 2002).…”