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Gusmão RAF, Tessarolo G, Dobrovolski R, Gonçalves‐Souza T. Body size and trophic structure explain global asymmetric response of tetrapod diversity to climate effects. Ecol Evol 2024; 14:e11047. [PMID: 38380066 PMCID: PMC10877556 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.11047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2023] [Revised: 01/31/2024] [Accepted: 02/05/2024] [Indexed: 02/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Although climate-based hypotheses are widely used to explain large-scale diversity patterns, they fall short of explaining the spatial variation among taxonomic groups. Integrating food web and metabolic theories into macroecology is a promising step forward, as they allow including explicit taxon-specific traits that can potentially mediate the relationship between climate and diversity. Our investigation focuses on the role of body size and trophic structure in mediating the influence of contemporary climate and historical climate change on global tetrapods species richness. We used piecewise structural equation modeling to assess the direct effects of contemporary climate and climate instability of species richness and the indirect effects of climate on tetrapod richness mediated by community-wide species traits. We found that birds and mammals are less sensitive to the direct effect of contemporary climate than amphibians and squamates. Contemporary climate and climate instability favored the species richness of mammals and amphibians. However, for birds and squamates, this link is only associated with contemporary climate. Moreover, we showed that community-wide traits are correlated with species richness gradients. However, we highlight that this relationship is dependent upon the specific traits and taxonomic groups. Specifically, bird communities with smaller bodies and bottom-heavy structures support higher species richness. Squamates also tend to be more diverse in communities with prevalence of smaller bodies, while mammals are correlated with top-heavy structures. Moreover, we showed that higher contemporary climate and climate instability reduce the species richness of birds and mammals through community-wide traits and indirectly increase squamate species richness. We also showed that body size and trophic structure are driving a global asymmetric response of tetrapod diversity to climate effects, which highlights the limitation to use the "typical" climate-based hypotheses. Furthermore, by combining multiple theories, our research contributes to a more realistic and mechanistic understanding of diversity patterns across taxonomic groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Reginaldo A. F. Gusmão
- Graduate Program in Ethnobiology and Nature Conservation, Department of BiologyFederal Rural University of PernambucoRecifeBrazil
| | - Geiziane Tessarolo
- Laboratory of Biogeography and Aquatic EcologyState University of GoiásAnápolisBrazil
| | | | - Thiago Gonçalves‐Souza
- Graduate Program in Ethnobiology and Nature Conservation, Department of BiologyFederal Rural University of PernambucoRecifeBrazil
- Institute for Global Change Biology, School for Environment and SustainabilityUniversity of MichiganAnn ArborMichiganUSA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyUniversity of MichiganAnn ArborMichiganUSA
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Khaliq I, Biber M, E. Bowler D, Hof C. Global change impacts on bird biodiversity in South Asia: potential effects of future land-use and climate change on avian species richness in Pakistan. PeerJ 2023; 11:e16212. [PMID: 37818326 PMCID: PMC10561643 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.16212] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2023] [Accepted: 09/10/2023] [Indexed: 10/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Evaluating the impact of future changes in land-use and climate on species communities, especially species richness, is one of the most important challenges of current research in ecology and conservation. The impact of environmental changes on species richness depends on its sensitivity (i.e., how strongly a given level of change influences the ecological community) and its exposure (i.e., the amount of change that occurs). To examine the sensitivity, exposure, and potential impact of future environmental conditions on bird communities, we compiled data on bird species richness for Pakistan-a neglected region in macro- or country-scale studies. Since bird species richness strongly varies across seasons due to the seasonal occurrence of migratory species in winter, we compared both wintering (migratory plus resident species) and breeding (resident species only) bird richness. We found breeding and wintering species richness to be sensitive to temperature, precipitation and rainfed cropland by being positively related to these factors. Exposure varied regionally, with projected temperature changes being most profound in northern regions while the strongest projected precipitation changes occurred in central and southern regions. The projected impact of future environmental change were highly heterogeneous across the country and differed between the wintering and breeding communities. Overall, the most negatively impacted region was projected to be the Khyber Pakhtunkha province in the North of Pakistan, due to reductions in precipitation and rainfed cropland, resulting in a projected negative impact, especially on wintering species richness. By highlighting the regional and seasonal bird communities most at risk, our findings provide useful information for policy makers to help devise new policies for mitigating negative impacts of future environmental changes on birds within Pakistan.
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Affiliation(s)
- Imran Khaliq
- Department of Aquatic Ecology, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG), Dubendorf, Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Zoology, Government (Defunct) College, Dera Ghazi Khan, Punjab, Pakistan
| | - Matthias Biber
- Terrestrial Ecology Research Group, Department for Life Science Systems, School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Freising, Munich, Germany
| | - Diana E. Bowler
- UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology Maclean Building, Wallingford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Christian Hof
- Terrestrial Ecology Research Group, Department for Life Science Systems, School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Freising, Munich, Germany
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Huang CW, Ooi JQ, Yau SY. The landscape ecological view of vertebrate species richness in urban areas across biogeographic realms. Sci Rep 2023; 13:16647. [PMID: 37789152 PMCID: PMC10547837 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-43896-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2023] [Accepted: 09/29/2023] [Indexed: 10/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Understanding how the spatial arrangement of remnant green spaces in cities complements biodiversity provides an opportunity for synergy between urban development and biological conservation. However, the geography of urbanization is shifting from Europe and North America to Asia and Africa, and more research is needed for fast-growing regions. To understand how shifting urbanization shapes biodiversity patterns, we analyzed the contribution of landscape factors in explaining vertebrate species richness in urban areas across biogeographic realms. We used variation partitioning to quantify and compare the relative importance of landscape factors (composition and configuration) and environmental factors (climate, elevation, and latitude) in explaining vertebrate species richness in landscapes with at least a million inhabitants across biogeographic realms. Our results pointed out that in the Indo-Malayan, the Afrotropical, and the Neotropical realm (on average of 16.46%) and China and India (11.88%), the influence of landscape factors on vertebrate species richness are significantly higher than that of the Palearctic and Nearctic realms (6.48%). Our findings outline the importance of landscape composition and configuration in shaping biodiversity patterns in regions with fast urban growth during the next two decades, such as Africa, Latin America, and Southeastern Asia. We suggest improving land governance and urban planning to construct eco-friendly landscape structures to mitigate biodiversity loss due to urbanization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chun-Wei Huang
- General Education Center, Ming Chi University of Technology, New Taipei City, 243303, Taiwan.
| | - Jia Qing Ooi
- Department of Geography, National Taiwan University, Taipei, 10617, Taiwan
| | - Si Ying Yau
- Department of Geography, National Taiwan University, Taipei, 10617, Taiwan
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Coelho MTP, Barreto E, Rangel TF, Diniz-Filho JAF, Wüest RO, Bach W, Skeels A, McFadden IR, Roberts DW, Pellissier L, Zimmermann NE, Graham CH. The geography of climate and the global patterns of species diversity. Nature 2023; 622:537-544. [PMID: 37758942 PMCID: PMC10584679 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06577-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2022] [Accepted: 08/25/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023]
Abstract
Climate's effect on global biodiversity is typically viewed through the lens of temperature, humidity and resulting ecosystem productivity1-6. However, it is not known whether biodiversity depends solely on these climate conditions, or whether the size and fragmentation of these climates are also crucial. Here we shift the common perspective in global biodiversity studies, transitioning from geographic space to a climate-defined multidimensional space. Our findings suggest that larger and more isolated climate conditions tend to harbour higher diversity and species turnover among terrestrial tetrapods, encompassing more than 30,000 species. By considering both the characteristics of climate itself and its geographic attributes, we can explain almost 90% of the variation in global species richness. Half of the explanatory power (45%) may be attributed either to climate itself or to the geography of climate, suggesting a nuanced interplay between them. Our work evolves the conventional idea that larger climate regions, such as the tropics, host more species primarily because of their size7,8. Instead, we underscore the integral roles of both the geographic extent and degree of isolation of climates. This refined understanding presents a more intricate picture of biodiversity distribution, which can guide our approach to biodiversity conservation in an ever-changing world.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Túlio P Coelho
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, Birmensdorf, Switzerland.
| | - Elisa Barreto
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - Thiago F Rangel
- Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, Brazil
| | | | - Rafael O Wüest
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - Wilhelmine Bach
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
- Ecosystems and Landscape Evolution, Institute of Terrestrial Ecosystems, Department of Environmental System Science, ETH Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Alexander Skeels
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
- Ecosystems and Landscape Evolution, Institute of Terrestrial Ecosystems, Department of Environmental System Science, ETH Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Ian R McFadden
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
- Ecosystems and Landscape Evolution, Institute of Terrestrial Ecosystems, Department of Environmental System Science, ETH Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - David W Roberts
- Ecology Department, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA
| | - Loïc Pellissier
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
- Ecosystems and Landscape Evolution, Institute of Terrestrial Ecosystems, Department of Environmental System Science, ETH Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Niklaus E Zimmermann
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - Catherine H Graham
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
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Mo Y, Li T, Bao Y, Zhang J, Zhao Y, Ye J, Zhang Y, Wu W, Tang J, Li Z. Correlations and dominant climatic factors among diversity patterns of plant families, genera, and species. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.1010067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
At present, the relationship between the diversity distribution patterns of different taxonomic levels of plants and climatic factors is still unclear. This paper explored the diversity pattern of vascular plant families, genera, and species in China at the municipal scale. It also studied the effects of accumulated temperature ≥ 10°C, annual precipitation, and hydrothermal base which reflect the effect of hydrothermal resources on the plant diversity pattern. The results showed that: There were extremely significant correlations among the diversities of plant families, genera, and species, and the interpretation degree of diversity between adjacent the taxonomic levels was more than 90%. The diversity pattern of plant families was mainly affected by dominant climatic state indicators such as the maximum value of accumulated temperature, annual precipitation, and hydrothermal base, and the gradient range of the hydrothermal base, which showed a clear latitudinal gradient law. The diversity pattern of plant species was found to be mainly dependent on the climatic heterogeneity indicators, being closely related to the heterogeneity indicators and sum indicators of the hydrothermal base. It was also affected by the range of precipitation gradient range. Plant genus and its diversity pattern are not only significantly affected by heterogeneity and sum indicators but also closely related to climate state indicators. In comparison with the humidity index in vegetation ecological studies, the related indicators of the hydrothermal base proposed in this paper excelled at revealing the relationship between climate and diversity patterns of plant families, genera, and species, and could effectively solve the species-area relationship issue in arid and low-temperature areas. The results of this paper have presented important theoretical and practical values for comprehensively understanding the correlation between climate and diversity of plant families, genera, and species, clarifying the impact of climate difference and climate change on plant diversity.
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Iannella M, Masciulli U, Cerasoli F, Di Musciano M, Biondi M. Assessing future shifts in habitat suitability and connectivity to old-growth forests to support the conservation of the endangered giant noctule. PeerJ 2022; 10:e14446. [PMID: 36518268 PMCID: PMC9744155 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.14446] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2022] [Accepted: 11/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Suitable climate and availability of habitats for roosting, foraging, and dispersing are critical for the long-term persistence of bat species. The giant noctule (Nyctalus lasiopterus) represents one of the lesser-known European bats, especially regarding the environmental factors which shape its distribution. Methodology We integrated climate-based ecological niche models with information about topography and rivers' network to model weighted suitability for N. lasiopterus in the western Palearctic. The weighted suitability map was then used to estimate connectivity among the distinct occurrence localities of N. lasiopterus, as well as from these latter towards European old-growth forests, under current conditions and different combinations of future timeframes (2030, 2050, 2070) and shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs 3.70 and 5.85). Results Current weighted suitability is highest in Andalusia, northern Iberia, southwestern France, peninsular Italy, coastal Balkans and Anatolia, with dispersed suitable patches elsewhere. A north-eastward shift of weighted suitability emerges in the considered future scenarios, especially under SSP 5.85. The major current ecological corridors for N. lasiopterus are predicted within a 'belt' connecting northern Spain and southwestern France, as well as in the Italian Alps. However, following changes in weighted suitability, connectivity would increase in central-eastern Europe in the future. The bioclimatic niche of the western N. lasiopterus populations does not overlap with those of the central and eastern ones, and it only overlaps with climatic conditions characterizing old-growth forests in western Europe. Conclusions The outcomes of our analyses would help in designing specific conservation measures for the distinct groups of giant noctule populations, favoring the possibility of range expansion and movement towards forested habitats.
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