Disproportional risk for habitat loss of high‐altitude endemic species under climate change

Dirnböck, Thomas; Essl, Franz; Rabitsch, Wolfgang

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2010.02266.x

Cited by 419 publications

(323 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Climate change is expected to increase the extinction risk for high‐elevation species by affecting the availability of suitable environmental conditions, especially those with small ranges (Dirnböck, Essl, & Rabitsch, 2011; Ohlemüller et al., 2008). Recent observed elevational increases in range limits for several taxa have been correlated with elevational warming trends (Chen, Hill, Ohlemüller, Roy, & Thomas, 2011; Lenoir, Gégout, Marquet, de Ruffray, & Brisse, 2008; Moritz et al., 2008; Tayleur et al., 2015; Walls, 2009; Wilson et al., 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence that climate sets the lower elevation range limit in a high‐elevation endemic salamander

Grant¹,

Brand²,

Wekker

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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A frequent assumption in ecology is that biotic interactions are more important than abiotic factors in determining lower elevational range limits (i.e., the “warm edge” of a species distribution). However, for species with narrow environmental tolerances, theory suggests the presence of a strong environmental gradient can lead to persistence, even in the presence of competition. The relative importance of biotic and abiotic factors is rarely considered together, although understanding when one exerts a dominant influence on controlling range limits may be crucial to predicting extinction risk under future climate conditions. We sampled multiple transects spanning the elevational range limit of Plethodon shenandoah and site and climate covariates were recorded. A two‐species conditional occupancy model, accommodating heterogeneity in detection probability, was used to relate variation in occupancy with environmental and habitat conditions. Regional climate data were combined with datalogger observations to estimate the cloud base heights and to project future climate change impacts on cloud elevations across the survey area. By simultaneously accounting for species’ interactions and habitat variables, we find that elevation, not competition, is strongly correlated with the lower elevation range boundary, which had been presumed to be restricted mainly as a result of competitive interactions with a congener. Because the lower elevational range limit is sensitive to climate variables, projected climate change across its high‐elevation habitats will directly affect the species’ distribution. Testing assumptions of factors that set species range limits should use models which accommodate detection biases.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence that climate sets the lower elevation range limit in a high‐elevation endemic salamander

Grant¹,

Brand²,

Wekker

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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“…Mountains also host a suite of endemic species, many of which are perceived to be condemned to extinction as their habitats contract or disappear as a result of climate change-related temperature increases, environmental stochasticity, and nonnative species invasions (3)(4)(5). A substantial literature, to which we have contributed, has developed in previous decades suggesting a similar fate for cold-water fishes and other aquatic taxa in montane environments (6)(7)(8), but it rests largely on predictions about temperature increases and untested assumptions about the relationship between air temperature and water temperature.…”

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confidence: 99%

Slow climate velocities of mountain streams portend their role as refugia for cold-water biodiversity

Isaak

Young

Luce

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

203

236

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The imminent demise of montane species is a recurrent theme in the climate change literature, particularly for aquatic species that are constrained to networks and elevational rather than latitudinal retreat as temperatures increase. Predictions of widespread species losses, however, have yet to be fulfilled despite decades of climate change, suggesting that trends are much weaker than anticipated and may be too subtle for detection given the widespread use of sparse water temperature datasets or imprecise surrogates like elevation and air temperature. Through application of large water-temperature databases evaluated for sensitivity to historical air-temperature variability and computationally interpolated to provide high-resolution thermal habitat information for a 222,000-km network, we estimate a less dire thermal plight for cold-water species within mountains of the northwestern United States. Stream warming rates and climate velocities were both relatively low for 1968-2011 (average warming rate = 0.101°C/ decade; median velocity = 1.07 km/decade) when air temperatures warmed at 0.21°C/decade. Many cold-water vertebrate species occurred in a subset of the network characterized by low climate velocities, and three native species of conservation concern occurred in extremely cold, slow velocity environments (0.33-0.48 km/decade). Examination of aggressive warming scenarios indicated that although network climate velocities could increase, they remain low in headwaters because of strong local temperature gradients associated with topographic controls. Better information about changing hydrology and disturbance regimes is needed to complement these results, but rather than being climatic cul-de-sacs, many mountain streams appear poised to be redoubts for cold-water biodiversity this century.climate refugia | climate velocity | biodiversity | fish | network M ountain landscapes constitute 12% of the Earth's land surface (1) and have long served as sanctuaries for certain species by restricting human incursions and juxtaposing diverse environments (2). Mountains also host a suite of endemic species, many of which are perceived to be condemned to extinction as their habitats contract or disappear as a result of climate change-related temperature increases, environmental stochasticity, and nonnative species invasions (3-5). A substantial literature, to which we have contributed, has developed in previous decades suggesting a similar fate for cold-water fishes and other aquatic taxa in montane environments (6-8), but it rests largely on predictions about temperature increases and untested assumptions about the relationship between air temperature and water temperature. In particular, previous studies have failed to recognize that the highest and coldest streams are relatively insensitive to air temperature fluctuations (9, 10), and that the morphologies of many mountain ranges and their stream networks may mediate climate warming such that shifts in thermal habitat are small (2, 11).Dense stream networks drain moun...

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“…However, the spatial pattern of the DOC and its SUVA in wetlands on alpine regions is largely unstudied. In fact, alpine regions are undergoing more intensive stress of climate change than other regions (Calanca 2007, Dirnbock et al 2011. It is essential to study the pattern of the DOC in the alpine wetlands if carbon cycles in the wetlands and their responses to climate change are to be explained.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial Pattern of Dissolved Organic Carbon and its Specific Ultraviolet Absorbance under Different Scales in a Wetland Complex on the Eastern Tibetan Plateau

Zhu

Chen

et al. 2014

Ekoloji

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The concentration of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and the specific ultraviolet absorbance (SUVA) of peat, soil, and water samples collected from the Zoige wetlands on the eastern Tibetan Plateau in August 2008 were determined. The DOC concentration was 36.34 ± 15.27 mg L -1 , falling in the range of the DOC concentration in wetlands of other regions. However, the mean SUVA of the DOC was 0.55 ± 0.33 L mg -1 m -1 , showed a comparatively low aromaticity among wetlands. Significant variations of DOC concentration and their SUVA were both found under different spatial scales. The results showed that both the concentration and aromaticity of the DOC are influenced by the water table in the peatland. The significant difference of the DOC concentration among the three types of wetland showed the influence of plant growth on the DOC in the soils, and the SUVA indicated the different sources of the DOC in the different wetlands. The results also indicated that the DOC concentrations in stream water are consistent to the proportion of peatlands in the corresponding catchment.

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Disproportional risk for habitat loss of high‐altitude endemic species under climate change

Cited by 419 publications

References 38 publications

Evidence that climate sets the lower elevation range limit in a high‐elevation endemic salamander

Evidence that climate sets the lower elevation range limit in a high‐elevation endemic salamander

Slow climate velocities of mountain streams portend their role as refugia for cold-water biodiversity

Spatial Pattern of Dissolved Organic Carbon and its Specific Ultraviolet Absorbance under Different Scales in a Wetland Complex on the Eastern Tibetan Plateau

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