The effects of defaunation on plants’ capacity to track climate change

Fricke, Evan C.; Ordóñez, Alejandro; Rogers, Haldre S.; Svenning, Jens‐Christian

doi:10.1126/science.abk3510

Cited by 160 publications

(137 citation statements)

References 87 publications

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“…However, to date climate change has received much less attention. Given that seed dispersal is critical for species to shift ranges with climate changes (Dawson et al, 2011;Corlett and Westcott, 2013;González-Varo et al, 2021;Fricke et al, 2022), the relative lack of theoretical or empirical studies on this topic suggests SDD disruption due to climate change is an area requiring additional focus. We posit that advancing knowledge in this regard is particularly urgent given the omnipresent impact of climate change, which operates at a higher (i.e., global) scale and could thus worsen the consequences of any other driver of SDD (McConkey et al, 2012;Zhou et al, 2013;Maciel et al, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drivers of Ecological and Evolutionary Disruptions in the Seed Dispersal Process: Research Trends and Biases

et al. 2022

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As the sole opportunity for most plants to move, seed dispersal influences the biodiversity and functioning of plant communities. Global change drivers have the potential to disrupt seed dispersal processes, affecting plant communities and ecosystem functions. Even though much information is available on the effects of seed dispersal disruption (SDD), we still lack a comprehensive understanding of its main causes at a global scale, as well as the potential knowledge gaps derived from research biases. Here we present a systematic review of biotic and abiotic SDDs to ascertain the global change drivers addressed, dispersal modes impacted, plant processes affected, and spatial focus of existing research on this topic up-to-date. Although there are many modes of dispersal and global change drivers in temperate and tropical ecosystems worldwide, research efforts have predominantly addressed the effect of alien species for biotic seed dispersal in temperate systems and oceanic islands as well as how defaunation of bird or mammal dispersers has affected seed removal in the Neotropics. SDD studies were also biased toward forest ecosystems, with few in shrublands or grasslands. Finally, the effects of climate change, ecological consequences at the whole community level, and evolutionary changes were largely unrepresented in SDD studies. These trends are likely due to a combination of true geographic and ecological patterns in seed dispersal and global change and bias in research focus. We conclude that increased research investment in the less-studied systems and a better understanding of potential synergies and feedback between multiple global change drivers will be important to forecast the threats to plant biodiversity and those ecosystem functions derived from seed dispersal in the Anthropocene.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drivers of Ecological and Evolutionary Disruptions in the Seed Dispersal Process: Research Trends and Biases

et al. 2022

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“…Defaunation induced by climate change and other environmental disturbances has reduced long-distance seed dispersal. Prediction of dispersal function for fleshly-fruited species has already reduced the capacity of plants to track climate change by 60%, thus severely affecting their range shifts (Fricke et al 2022 ).…”

Section: Impacts Of Climate Changementioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change and its impact on biodiversity and human welfare

Shivanna

2022

Proc.Indian Natl. Sci. Acad.

195

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Climate change refers to the long-term changes in temperature and weather due to human activities. Increase in average global temperature and extreme and unpredictable weather are the most common manifestations of climate change. In recent years, it has acquired the importance of global emergency and affecting not only the wellbeing of humans but also the sustainability of other lifeforms. Enormous increase in the emission of greenhouse gases (CO 2 , methane and nitrous oxide) in recent decades largely due to burning of coal and fossil fuels, and deforestation are the main drivers of climate change. Marked increase in the frequency and intensity of natural disasters, rise in sea level, decrease in crop productivity and loss of biodiversity are the main consequences of climate change. Obvious mitigation measures include significant reduction in the emission of greenhouse gases and increase in the forest cover of the landmass. Conference of Parties (COP 21), held in Paris in 2015 adapted, as a legally binding treaty, to limit global warming to well below 2 °C, preferably to 1.5 °C by 2100, compared to pre-industrial levels. However, under the present emission scenario, the world is heading for a 3–4 °C warming by the end of the century. This was discussed further in COP 26 held in Glasgow in November 2021; many countries pledged to reach net zero carbon emission by 2050 and to end deforestation, essential requirements to keep 1.5 °C target. However, even with implementation of these pledges, the rise is expected to be around 2.4 °C. Additional measures are urgently needed to realize the goal of limiting temperature rise to 1.5 °C and to sustain biodiversity and human welfare.

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“…Moreover, birds are key for ecosystem functioning (e.g. seed dispersal) and sensitive to ecosystem perturbations, making them of interest when studying community dynamic in a context of increasing anthropogenic impacts and climate change (Fricke et al, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How has bird biodiversity changed over time? A review across spatio-temporal scales

Leroy¹,

Reif²,

Storch³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Empirical quantification of biodiversity changes remains a challenge even in well surveyed groups such as birds. This may be because the change depends on spatio-temporal scales, specifically on spatial grain (i.e. area of a sampling unit), geographic extent (i.e. size of the area of interest), temporal grain (i.e. duration of a sampling event), and temporal extent (i.e. length of the time series). Further, different metrics of biodiversity may exhibit different trends. Here we review global literature assessing the temporal trends of avian biodiversity from ca 1900 AD to present, focusing on studies summarising trends across many locations within a larger region (i.e. spatially replicated). From each study we extracted direction of average trend (increase, decrease, stable), spatial and temporal grains and extents at which trends have been assessed, metrics of biodiversity, and location. We then discuss the trends as a function of the spatio-temporal grains and extents they are defined at. We found 59 trends of 12 metrics, where each trend is an average of trends from multiple sites (spatial replicates). There was a tendency of biodiversity metrics to increase at local and regional spatial scales, and to not increase globally. We thus confirmed that biodiversity dynamics can have opposite trends at different spatial scales. Concerning temporal grain, it was poorly documented across the studies, with inconsistent definitions, and we suggest a common framework to better understand the link between temporal scales and biodiversity dynamics. We have also identified underrepresented regions (those outside North America and Europe), periods (those before the 70’s), and biodiversity metrics that need further attention. We highlight the importance of considering both spatial and temporal scaling jointly in any assessment of biodiversity change, and provide guidelines for how to do this effectively both in birds, and in other taxa.

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The effects of defaunation on plants’ capacity to track climate change

Cited by 160 publications

References 87 publications

Drivers of Ecological and Evolutionary Disruptions in the Seed Dispersal Process: Research Trends and Biases

Drivers of Ecological and Evolutionary Disruptions in the Seed Dispersal Process: Research Trends and Biases

Climate change and its impact on biodiversity and human welfare

How has bird biodiversity changed over time? A review across spatio-temporal scales

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