Introduction to the theme issue ‘Species' ranges in the face of changing environments’

Rafajlović, Marina; Alexander, Jake M.; Butlin, Roger K.; Johannesson, Kerstin

doi:10.1098/rstb.2021.0002

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…temperature, precipitation) affect populations, the effects of fluctuations around these average changes are much less understood (Thornton et al, 2014). Future expected locations of a fundamental thermal niche are available and utilized, for example in species distribution models (Leroux et al, 2013), but fluctuations are rarely considered (Benning et al, 2022;Holt et al, 2022;Rafajlović et al, 2022;Shen et al, 2022). Populations experience extinction debt and colonization credit as fluctuating in space and time.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change fluctuations can increase population abundance and range size

MacDonald,

Lutscher,

Bourgault

2024

Ecology Letters

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Climate change threatens many species by a poleward/upward movement of their thermal niche. While we know that faster movement has stronger impacts, little is known on how fluctuations of niche movement affect population outcomes. Environmental fluctuations often affect populations negatively, but theory and experiments have revealed some positive effects. We study how fluctuations around the average speed of the niche impact a species' persistence, abundance and realized niche width under climate change. We find that the outcome depends on how fluctuations manifest and what the relative time scale of population growth and climate fluctuations are. When populations are close to extinction with the average speed, fluctuations around this average accelerate population decline. However, populations not yet close to extinction can increase in abundance and/or realized niche width from such fluctuations. Long‐lived species increase more when their niche size remains constant, short‐lived species increase more when their niche size varies.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change fluctuations can increase population abundance and range size

MacDonald,

Lutscher,

Bourgault

2024

Ecology Letters

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“…A species’ range evolves through complex eco-evolutionary processes, the understanding of which is crucial for predicting species’ response to climate change, informing conservation efforts for preserving biodiversity, and developing strategies for controlling invasive species (Angert et al, 2020; Bridle and Vines, 2007; Case et al, 2005; Duckworth and Badyaev, 2007; Fronhofer and Altermatt, 2015; Gaston et al, 2003; Godsoe et al, 2017; Haddad et al, 2015; Holt and Keitt, 2005; Louthan et al, 2015; Miller et al, 2020; Ponchon and Travis, 2022; Rafajlović et al, 2022; Sexton et al, 2009; Shirani and Miller, 2022). Dispersal is one of the key ecological factors involved in determining a species’ range.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Matching Habitat Choice and the Evolution of a Species’ Range

Shirani,

Miller

2024

Preprint

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Natural selection is not the only mechanism that promotes adaptation of an organism to its environment. Another mechanism is matching habitat choice, in which individuals sense and disperse toward habitat best suited to their phenotype. This can in principle facilitate rapid adaptation, enhance range expansion, and promote genetic differentiation, reproductive isolation, and speciation. However, empirical evidence that confirms the evolution of matching habitat choice in nature is limited. Here we obtain theoretical evidence that phenotype-optimal dispersal, a particular form of matching habitat choice, is likely to evolve only in the presence of a steep environmental gradient. Such a gradient may be steeper than the gradient the majority of species typically experience in nature, adding to the collection of possible explanations for the scarcity of evidence for matching habitat choice. We draw this conclusion from numerical simulations of a system of deterministic partial differential equations for a population’s density along with the mean and variance of a fitness-related quantitative phenotypic trait, such as body size. In a steep gradient, we find that phenotype-optimal dispersal facilitates rapid adaptation on single-generation time scales, reduces within-population trait variation, increases range expansion speed, and enhances the chance of survival in rapidly changing environments. Moreover, it creates a directed gene flow that reverses the maladaptive core-to-edge effects of random gene flow caused by random movements. These results suggest that adaptive gene flow to range margins, together with substantially reduced trait variation at central populations, may be hallmarks of phenotype-optimal dispersal in natural populations.

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“…The ranges of species are dynamic owing to expansions, contractions, or shifts over space and time, which result from the evolutionary and ecological processes (Sheth et al, 2020;Bridle and Hoffmann, 2022;Rafajlovićet al, 2022). Thus, different species, even those that are closely related, can have varying range sizes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Echoes of the past: niche evolution, range dynamics, and their coupling shape the distribution of species in the Chrysanthemum zawadskii species complex

Lu,

Wang,

et al. 2023

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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The distribution of species changes over time, and the current distribution of different species could result from distinct eco-evolutionary processes. Thus, investigating the spatiotemporal changes in the niche and geographic range of species is fundamental to understanding those processes and mechanisms shaping the current distributions of species. However, many studies only compared the current distribution and niche of the target species, ignoring the fact that the range shift of species is a dynamic process. Here, we reconstructed niche evolution and range dynamics of species to provide more information on related eco-evolutionary processes. We focused on a monophyletic species complex, Chrysanthemum zawadskii species complex, in which species occupy diverse habitats and exhibit different distribution patterns. Specifically, we investigated the niche breadth and overlap between lineages or species of the complex in geographic and environmental spaces. We then tested the phylogenetic signals for different climatic variables and estimated the niche of ancestral nodes on a time-calibrated phylogeny. Next, we used phyloclimatic modeling to reconstruct the dynamics of range shift for this complex. Our results show that this complex contains both specialist and generalist species, and niche diverges greatly among different species and intraspecific lineages of the complex. The moisture gradient may be the primary driver of the niche divergence of species in the complex. The reconstruction of ancestral distribution shows that this complex originated in the Qinling mountains and surrounding areas during the early Pliocene, and then diverged with the range expansion and niche evolution. Species of the complex have different range dynamics. Based on our findings, we propose that niche evolution, range dynamics, and their coupling shape the distribution of species, which provides insight into the eco-evolutionary processes that formed the current distribution of species in the C. zawadskii complex.

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Introduction to the theme issue ‘Species' ranges in the face of changing environments’

Cited by 8 publications

References 48 publications

Climate change fluctuations can increase population abundance and range size

Climate change fluctuations can increase population abundance and range size

Matching Habitat Choice and the Evolution of a Species’ Range

Echoes of the past: niche evolution, range dynamics, and their coupling shape the distribution of species in the Chrysanthemum zawadskii species complex

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