Surviving drought: a framework for understanding animal responses to small rain events in the arid zone

Maute, Kimberly; Hose, Grant C.; Story, Paul; Bull, C. Michael; French, Kristine

doi:10.1002/ecy.2884

Cited by 13 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Subsequently, some part of it is lost to mortality and/or consumption, while another part is left for reserve (Noy‐Meir, 1973). Accordingly, abundance data from populations of several arthropod taxa suggest that even a relatively small rain can dramatically increase arthropod numbers (Lingbeek et al, 2017; Maute et al, 2019). Therefore, we found a striking change in diversity estimates between seasons for arthropods associated with desert vegetation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Metabarcoding reveals seasonal and spatial patterns of arthropod community assemblages in two contrasting habitats: Desert and oasis of the Baja California Peninsula, Mexico

Klimova

Rodríguez‐Estrella

Meng

et al. 2023

Diversity and Distributions

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Aim: Desert springs or oases are the only permanent mesic environments in highly water-limited arid regions. Oases have immense cultural, evolutionary and ecological importance for people and a high number of endemic and relic species. Nevertheless, they are also highly vulnerable ecosystems, with invasive species, overexploitation and climate change being the primary threats. We used the arthropod communities' spatiotemporal diversity and distribution patterns as a proxy to understand biodiversity dynamics in two geographically close but ecologically contrasting and highly threatened ecosystems: deserts and oases.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Metabarcoding reveals seasonal and spatial patterns of arthropod community assemblages in two contrasting habitats: Desert and oasis of the Baja California Peninsula, Mexico

Klimova

Rodríguez‐Estrella

Meng

et al. 2023

Diversity and Distributions

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“…Coastal prairie surrounding Owl Canyon is probably an unstable sink habitat for meadow spittlebugs that requires repeated dispersal and colonization from the canyon source (Pulliam 1988). Nonetheless, short-term rain events that increase local abundances may buffer insect populations, allowing them to persist amidst longer-term droughts that make most of their former range unfavorable (Maute et al 2019). It is unclear whether populations in refugia such as Owl Canyon represent holdouts at the trailing edge that will eventually go extinct, steppingstones that can allow dispersal to other refugia, or more persistent true microrefugia (Hannah et al 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial and temporal refugia for an insect population declining due to climate change

Karban

Huntzinger

2021

Ecosphere

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Insect declines have been reported worldwide, although the particular causes of the declines may be complex and are poorly understood. Meadow spittlebugs were one of the most abundant insects in the coastal prairie along the California coast 40 yr ago but have largely disappeared. Evidence links this decline to changing climatic conditions, which have reduced survival of eggs and neonates. We identified several refugia where meadow spittlebug populations have persisted amidst unfavorable conditions. Protection from desiccating winds was the common attribute of these refugia. Following a wet year, adult meadow spittlebugs were able to disperse from one refuge that we studied to recolonize coastal prairie habitats, although populations declined over the next two drier years. Because of their previous high abundance, loss of meadow spittlebugs is likely to affect the functioning of this widespread habitat, including energy transfer, their host plants, and their predators. In addition, meadow spittlebugs are unusual in having been the subject of extensive physiological and long‐term ecological data, so they can serve as a bellwether species, indicating the effects of climate change.

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“…This reduction in activity is likely to represent an energy-saving tactic in response to there being fewer resources in the dry season (Christian et al 1996;Price-Rees et al 2014). In the arid zone, temporal variation in resources is largely driven by patterns in rainfall and drought (Morton et al 2011;Maute et al 2019), and lizard activity reflects this by being higher in periods of rainfall (Kerr and Bull 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Space use and daily movement patterns in an arid zone agamid lizard†

et al. 2022

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Context Quantifying the space use and movement patterns of animals is important to understand other aspects of a species ecology, such as habitat use and social systems. However, basic data on space use and movement patterns, and how they are influenced by biotic or abiotic factors, are lacking for many species. Aims We identified the space use and movement patterns of the central bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps), and assessed how external factors (environmental conditions) and internal factors (sex and morphology) shape these patterns. Methods We tracked 36 P. vitticeps individuals over three seasons from 2017 to 2018. Animals carried tags with a Global Positioning Systems (GPS) device to collect spatial data and an accelerometer to collect movement data in far western New South Wales, Australia. Measurements of body morphology were taken for each individual and ambient temperatures were recorded. Space use was analysed by calculating minimum convex polygons (MCPs) and kernel density estimates (KDEs) using the spatial data. Movement data were analysed to determine whether dragons had moved during 10-min periods. Results Twenty-three out of 36 individuals held defined activity areas. Males with wider tails were most likely to be floaters (i.e. not restricted to specific areas). Evidence of floater behaviour was shown by 45% of females and 20% of males, though both sexes often roamed over distances greater than 1 km. Air temperatures strongly influenced movement rates in both sexes. Movement rate was significantly higher for males than females during late-spring, but not mid-summer, and was inversely related to head sizes and body mass during mid-summer. Interestingly, although there was no correlation observed between daily movement rates and size of MCPs calculated, the movement rates of residents were significantly different from floaters for each season. Conclusions These results confirm that wild P. vitticeps movement patterns are driven by temperature, though space-use patterns vary from previously studied agamids, with high rates of nomadism, possibly due to drought conditions. Individuals varied widely in their space-use tactics, which seem unrelated to size, a potential proxy for social status or age. Implications Our study provides baseline information on a common arid zone agamid that is lacking research in the wild. More complex studies on the ecology of P. vitticeps can build on the findings of this study.

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Surviving drought: a framework for understanding animal responses to small rain events in the arid zone

Cited by 13 publications

References 42 publications

Metabarcoding reveals seasonal and spatial patterns of arthropod community assemblages in two contrasting habitats: Desert and oasis of the Baja California Peninsula, Mexico

Metabarcoding reveals seasonal and spatial patterns of arthropod community assemblages in two contrasting habitats: Desert and oasis of the Baja California Peninsula, Mexico

Spatial and temporal refugia for an insect population declining due to climate change

Space use and daily movement patterns in an arid zone agamid lizard†

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