Where Resource‐Acquisitive Species Are Located: The Role of Habitat Heterogeneity

Abstract

Rising temperatures with increased drought pose two challenges for management of future biodiversity. First, are the most vulnerable species concentrated in specific regions and habitats? Second, where can landscape heterogeneity potentially mitigate impacts? We conducted a comprehensive trait analysis of forest plots spanning the eastern United States to quantify how resource-acquisitive species respond to moisture-soil-climate interactions. We found that resource-acquisitive species, including nutrient-acquisitive and moisture-acquisitive species, respond disproportionately to environmental gradients, and their response is largely explained by soil variation. We showed that the strong boundary of resource-acquisitive species occurs near the last glacial limit, highlighting one of the clearest indicators of soil controls. Although local soil moisture may reduce drought-induced stress for moisture-acquisitive species, nutrient-acquisitive species remain vulnerable on wet soils in dry climates. The results suggest that theories explaining species distributions should devote close attention to the combination of local drainage and soil type.Plain Summary language Global warming and drought may cause harm to the biodiversity on the planet. But we may be able to protect species if we can identify vulnerable habitats and regions. To address this challenge, we analyzed a large data set of forest plots across the eastern United States. Our study showed that soil type and local soil moisture play important roles in species response to dry and warm conditions. Our results revealed a sharp change in the population of resource-acquisitive species near the boundary of the last glaciation, indicating a strong soil control. While nutrient-acquisitive species did not benefit from local moisture availability, moisture-acquisitive species favored these conditions.

Niche Shifts From Trees to Fecundity to Recruitment That Determine Species Response to Climate Change

“…Furthermore, the dominance of positive interactions between moisture deficit and local moisture class is consistent with topographic mediation of climate, particularly for recruits. This positive interaction means that local moisture has an increasingly positive effect the greater the climate deficit (Seyednasrollah and Clark, 2020). The high sensitivity of this interaction for recruitment, particularly in PIPO-ABCO and ACSA-PIST, is consistent with high seedling sensitivity to water availability compared to that of adults (Ibáñez et al, 2007;Dobrowski et al, 2015;Kueppers et al, 2017).…”

“…Recruitment responses to temperature depend on water availability, which might limit upslope forest range expansion (Lenoir et al, 2010;Crimmins et al, 2011;Kueppers et al, 2017). Local moisture gradients controlled by drainage and soil type interact with moisture deficits (Ibáñez et al, 2007;Clark et al, 2014;Serra-Diaz et al, 2016), amplifying the effects of aridification (Seyednasrollah and Clark, 2020). With warming over much of North America and changes in precipitation, the recruitment that follows twenty-first-century diebacks may differ from that of the past.…”

North American tree migration paced by climate in the West, lagging in the East

“…Genetic diversity can contribute to biogeographic patterns through continuing adaptive responses ( 52 , 53 ). Climate effects can be indirect through interactions with other variables ( 26 , 54 , 55 ). We lack the continental-scale coverage of these effects, but results here can help target species and regions for further study.…”

“…3 C ) relates to greater representation of larger, older trees that combine with rapid increase in temperature and moisture deficits. These coherent relationships between stand structure, composition, and climate provide a foundation for next steps toward the role of diversity and fertility gradients ( 55 ).…”

Jointly modeling marine species to inform the effects of environmental change on an ecological community in the Northwest Atlantic

“…Groupings include cold-water species such as Atlantic cod ( Gadus morhua ), haddock ( Melanogrammus aeglefinus ) and pollock ( Pollachius virens ) or warm water species such as summer flounder ( Paralichthys dentatus ) and smooth dogfish ( Mustelus canis ). The residual correlation further provides the opportunity to conditionally predict the responses of a set of species under different scenarios using the abundances of other species, which will ultimately help to inform how groups of species will react to changing environmental gradients on a more community-oriented level 17 . In terms of variable selection, GJAM allows for inverse prediction which comprehensively estimates the environmental importance for the entire community, by determining the capacity of the community to predict the environment.…”