Landscape pattern is critical for the moderation of thermal extremes

Carroll, James; Davis, Craig A.; Fuhlendorf, Samuel D.; Elmore, R. Dwayne

doi:10.1002/ecs2.1403

Cited by 50 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 81 publications

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“…, Carroll et al. , ). Although the main focus of our study was on nest site use and survival (which was unaffected by the weather variables that we tested) we did observe some temporal variation in nest initiation and duration dates between years.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reproductive plasticity and landscape heterogeneity benefit a ground‐nesting bird in a fire‐prone ecosystem

Carroll

Hovick

Davis

et al. 2017

Ecological Applications

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Disturbance is critical for the conservation of rangeland ecosystems worldwide and many of these systems are fire dependent. Although it is well established that restoring fire as an ecological process can lead to increased biodiversity in grasslands and shrublands, the underlying mechanisms driving community patterns are poorly understood for fauna in fire-prone landscapes. Much of this uncertainty stems from the paucity of studies that examine the effects of fire at scales relevant to organism life histories. We assessed the response of a non-migratory ground-dwelling bird to disturbance (i.e., prescribed fire) and environmental stochasticity over the course of a 4-yr period, which spanned years of historic drought and record rainfall. Specifically, we investigated the nesting ecology of Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus; hereafter Bobwhite) to illuminate possible avenues by which individuals respond to dynamic landscape patterns during a critical reproductive stage (i.e., nesting) in a mixed-grass shrubland in western Oklahoma, USA. We found that Bobwhites exhibited extreme plasticity in nest substrate use among time since fire categories (TSF) and subsequently maintained high nest survival (e.g., 57-70%). Bobwhites were opportunistic in nest substrate use among TSF categories (i.e., 72% of nest sites in shrubs in 0-12 months post fire compared to 71% in herbaceous vegetation in >36 months post fire), yet nesting decisions were first filtered by similar structural components (i.e., vertical and horizontal cover) within the vicinity of nest sites regardless of TSF category. Despite being a non-migratory and comparatively less mobile ground-nesting bird species, Bobwhites adjusted to dynamic vegetation mosaics on a fire-prone landscape under stochastic climatic conditions that culminated in stable and high nest survival. Broadly, our findings provide a unique depiction of organism response strategies to fire at scales relevant to a critical life-stage, a topic that has been previously understudied and poorly understood. We also demonstrate how doing so can better inform conservation practices aimed at restoring fire regimes on grassland and shrubland landscapes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reproductive plasticity and landscape heterogeneity benefit a ground‐nesting bird in a fire‐prone ecosystem

Carroll

Hovick

Davis

et al. 2017

Ecological Applications

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“…Similar to cold periods, we found constrained space use during hot periods although survival was not affected in our data. Despite the lack of survival effects from heat events in our data, the implications of space loss related to extreme heat events may become more important than space loss related to cold events, at least within the southern Great Plains, based on future climate projections (Carroll et al ., ). Furthermore, range overlap analysis suggests that there was a dissimilarity between space use during periods of extreme heat vs. extreme cold.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extreme climatic events constrain space use and survival of a ground‐nesting bird

Tanner

Elmore

Fuhlendorf

et al. 2016

Global Change Biology

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Two fundamental issues in ecology are understanding what influences the distribution and abundance of organisms through space and time. While it is well established that broad-scale patterns of abiotic and biotic conditions affect organisms' distributions and population fluctuations, discrete events may be important drivers of space use, survival, and persistence. These discrete extreme climatic events can constrain populations and space use at fine scales beyond that which is typically measured in ecological studies. Recently, a growing body of literature has identified thermal stress as a potential mechanism in determining space use and survival. We sought to determine how ambient temperature at fine temporal scales affected survival and space use for a ground-nesting quail species (Colinus virginianus; northern bobwhite). We modeled space use across an ambient temperature gradient (ranging from À20 to 38°C) through a MAXENT algorithm. We also used Andersen-Gill proportional hazard models to assess the influence of ambient temperature-related variables on survival through time. Estimated available useable space ranged from 18.6% to 57.1% of the landscape depending on ambient temperature. The lowest and highest ambient temperature categories (<À15°C and >35°C, respectively) were associated with the least amount of estimated useable space (18.6% and 24.6%, respectively). Range overlap analysis indicated dissimilarity in areas where Colinus virginianus were restricted during times of thermal extremes (range overlap = 0.38). This suggests that habitat under a given condition is not necessarily a habitat under alternative conditions. Further, we found survival was most influenced by weekly minimum ambient temperatures. Our results demonstrate that ecological constraints can occur along a thermal gradient and that understanding the effects of these discrete events and how they change over time may be more important to conservation of organisms than are average and broad-scale conditions as typically measured in ecological studies.

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“…In order to maximally improve the descriptive and predictive power of SDMs, researchers should be aware of the scale at which species experience the microclimate (Potter et al 2013, Hannah et al 2014, Carroll et al 2016. In order to maximally improve the descriptive and predictive power of SDMs, researchers should be aware of the scale at which species experience the microclimate (Potter et al 2013, Hannah et al 2014, Carroll et al 2016.…”

Section: Scale: a Matter Of Choosing The Right Extent And Resolution mentioning

confidence: 99%

Incorporating microclimate into species distribution models

2018

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Ecography E4 awardSpecies distribution models (SDMs) have rapidly evolved into one of the most widely used tools to answer a broad range of ecological questions, from the effects of climate change to challenges for species management. Current SDMs and their predictions under anthropogenic climate change are, however, often based on free-air or synoptic temperature conditions with a coarse resolution, and thus fail to capture apparent temperature (cf. microclimate) experienced by living organisms within their habitats. Yet microclimate operates as soon as a habitat can be characterized by a vertical component (e.g. forests, mountains, or cities) or by horizontal variation in surface cover. The mismatch between how we usually express climate (cf. coarse-grained free-air conditions) and the apparent microclimatic conditions that living organisms experience has only recently been acknowledged in SDMs, yet several studies have already made considerable progress in tackling this problem from different angles. In this review, we summarize the currently available methods to obtain meaningful microclimatic data for use in distribution modelling. We discuss the issue of extent and resolution, and propose an integrated framework using a selection of appropriatelyplaced sensors in combination with both the detailed measurements of the habitat 3D structure, for example derived from digital elevation models or airborne laser scanning, and the long-term records of free-air conditions from weather stations. As such, we can obtain microclimatic data with a relevant spatiotemporal resolution and extent to dynamically model current and future species distributions.

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Landscape pattern is critical for the moderation of thermal extremes

Cited by 50 publications

References 81 publications

Reproductive plasticity and landscape heterogeneity benefit a ground‐nesting bird in a fire‐prone ecosystem

Reproductive plasticity and landscape heterogeneity benefit a ground‐nesting bird in a fire‐prone ecosystem

Extreme climatic events constrain space use and survival of a ground‐nesting bird

Incorporating microclimate into species distribution models

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