Reported climate change impacts on cloud forest ants are driven by sampling bias: A critical evaluation of Warne et al. (2020)

Klimeš, Petr; Bishop, Tom R.; Fayle, Tom M.; Xing, Shuang

doi:10.1111/btp.12952

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…Empirical evidence showing effects of climate change on other major animal taxa, such as mammals, reptiles and most invertebrates, is too limited to identify any clear patterns. For instance, a resurvey of tropical montane ants in Costa Rica concluded that over a decade, the community became less diverse, with upland areas becoming more similar to lowland ones (Warne et al ., 2020) – suggesting that thermophilisation of communities is not limited to flora – however, this finding was promptly contested (Klimes et al ., 2021).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of anthropogenic climate change on tropical montane forests: an appraisal of the evidence

et al. 2023

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In spite of their small global area and restricted distributions, tropical montane forests (TMFs) are biodiversity hotspots and important ecosystem services providers, but are also highly vulnerable to climate change. To protect and preserve these ecosystems better, it is crucial to inform the design and implementation of conservation policies with the best available scientific evidence, and to identify knowledge gaps and future research needs. We conducted a systematic review and an appraisal of evidence quality to assess the impacts of climate change on TMFs. We identified several skews and shortcomings. Experimental study designs with controls and long-term (≥10 years) data sets provide the most reliable evidence, but were rare and gave an incomplete understanding of climate change impacts on TMFs. Most studies were based on predictive modelling approaches, short-term (<10 years) and cross-sectional study designs. Although these methods provide moderate to circumstantial evidence, they can advance our understanding on climate change effects. Current evidence suggests that increasing temperatures and rising cloud levels have caused distributional shifts (mainly upslope) of montane biota, leading to alterations in biodiversity and ecological functions. Neotropical TMFs were the best studied, thus the knowledge derived there can serve as a proxy for climate change responses in under-studied regions elsewhere. Most studies focused on vascular plants, birds, amphibians and insects, with other taxonomic groups poorly represented. Most ecological studies were conducted at species or community levels, with a marked paucity of genetic studies, limiting understanding of the adaptive capacity of TMF biota. We thus highlight the long-term need to widen the methodological, thematic and geographical scope of studies on TMFs under climate change to address these uncertainties. In the short term, however, in-depth research in well-studied regions and advances in computer modelling approaches offer the most reliable sources of information for expeditious conservation action for these threatened forests.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%