On the cover: Teira dugesii, or Madeira wall lizard, is a species from the family Lacertidae (Squamata: Lacertidae) endemic of the Madeira archipelago (Portugal). Photo credit: Matthew Owen Moreira.
On the cover: Teira dugesii, or Madeira wall lizard, is a species from the family Lacertidae (Squamata: Lacertidae) endemic of the Madeira archipelago (Portugal). Photo credit: Matthew Owen Moreira.
Climatic gradients shape geographic variation in phenotypic traits that are involved in animal thermoregulation. Therefore, increasing temperatures under global warming are expected to cause change over time in traits that show predictable spatial patterns according to environmental clines (body and appendage size, tegument coloration), as well exemplified by biogeographic rules and shown by increasing literature at a local scale. However, whether temporal shifts in phenotypic traits vary spatially according to the magnitude of the change in local climatic conditions is still unknown.
World.
Barn owl species complex (Tyto alba group).
By using thousands of museum specimens collected across the globe from 1901 to 2018, we calculated within-population change over time in wing length, bill length and melanin-based plumage coloration and examined whether these trends differed across geographic regions, latitudes and gradients of climate changes.
We showed that populations exposed to an increasing warmer climate were subjected to a more marked decrease in body size, as gauged by wing length, and also absolute bill length that displayed a similar, although less steep, pattern of shrinking over time. In addition, phaeomelanin-based ventral plumage colour has become paler in regions where the climate changed into warmer and drier, and darker where both temperature and precipitation increased.
These trends are generally coherent with the predictions based on Bergmann's and Gloger's rules, but not Allen's rule, and suggest that temporal shifts in body size and tegument colour depend on the magnitude of the alteration in climatic conditions, with populations living in regions where the climate has changed the most that are subjected to more marked phenotypic changes. Spatio-temporal variation in climate has driven within-species phenotypic clines, and it is expected to increase differences among populations according to the predicted further climate change.
Microrefugia on alpine slopes may allow species to persist in a warming climate. How plant species richness could respond to of the effectiveness of climatic buffering, defined as the difference in climate change in a microrefugium in comparison to that of an open alpine slope as mediated by competitive priority effects, is explored.
Alpine habitat anywhere.
Vascular plants.
A simple spatially explicit model of plant species with adaptations across a climatic gradient simulates reproduction, dispersal, and mortality through climatic change. The effectiveness of microrefugia in buffering climate change and levels of competitive priority effects are included as factors that alter demographic rates in an experimental framework. Spatial patterns of microrefugia and differences in dispersal are also simulated. Differences in mean species richness were analysed.
The number of species conserved, relative to an instantaneous equilibrium calculation with the same climatic change, decreases with inclusion of a period of change (transient vs. instantaneous, equilibrium change) and further with competitive priority effects. In these simulations, the number of species conserved does not simply increase with buffer effectiveness, as hypothesized, but instead is bimodal.
The dip in number of species conserved in the middle range of buffer effectiveness occurs because barriers develop. These are temporal ecological traps, wherein species adapted to the middle of a climatic gradient become extinct, because their colonization of microrefugia is blocked by an extinction debt of resident species. The inertia that allows these demographic consequences is increased by competitive priorities. The highest levels of buffering and resulting inertia will not be ubiquitous but the bimodal pattern indicates that assessments of the role of microrefugia need to recognize the temporal species-environment and species-species interactions that will change the number of species conserved versus extinctions.
Here, we discovered areas of endemism (AoE) for land planarians (Geoplaninae) and tested the influence of the past climate in the formation of AoEs in the southeastern AF in Brazil.
Southeastern Atlantic Forest, Brazil.
We used 1888 records of 371 species in Endemicity Analysis and Geographic Interpolation of Endemism to uncover AoEs. We also carried out a species distribution modelling (SDM) of three genera to see the suitability regions where they were distributed during Mid-Pliocene, Last Interglacial Maximum, Last Glacial Maximum and present time. Finally, we inferred a molecular phylogeny of Geoplaninae aiming to estimate divergence times of the taxa to test the relative influence of more recent climatic fluctuations in the speciations.
We delimited 15 robust AoEs. SDM corroborates past climate altered some genera distribution. However, results of the phylogenetic analysis resulted in time estimation older than Pleistocene climatic fluctuations for more recent speciations. These endemic patterns could be explained through processes of reduction and expansion of suitability areas but in older times as generally reported in the literature. Geological events that formed mountains, sedimentary basins and major rivers are integrated with climate to explain high endemism and diversification.
Planarians have shown to be an optimal model for fine-scale studies of AoE and diversification in AF. Pleistocene climatic fluctuations seem to have not been responsible for their diversification, but older climatic changes with geological events seem to have influenced their speciations and the present-day high levels of endemism. In the future, robust phylogenies with more comprehensive sampling integrated with palaeoecological models will help to understand the diversification of the AF.
We investigated the relationship between thermal physiology, elevational distribution and thermal stress among nine closely related dendrobatid frogs during their aquatic stage by employing an integrated approach, combining thermal physiology, environmental temperature modelling and predictive assessments of current and future exposure to thermal variation.
Ecuador.
Amphibians; Anura, Dendrobatidae, Epipedobates, Hyloxalus.
We determined the thermal performance curves (TPCs) of larval growth for each species and modelled the thermal variation in contrasting aquatic larval environments for both present and future times. This allowed us to estimate the expected elevational distributions and forecast periods of exposure to stressful temperatures that inhibit larval growth due to elevation and global warming.
We found significant correlations between optimum temperature (Topt), 50% maximum performance temperature (maxB50), 50% minimum performance temperature (minB50) and cold resistance (survival at 9°C) with the current elevational distributions. However, thermal physiology predicted lower than observed distributions for high-elevation dendrobatids and higher than observed maximum elevations for lowland species. Nonetheless, our models predicted that low thermal variability habitats (i.e. streams and deep permanent ponds) can buffer the future temperature increase for all taxa, even when considering the most extreme scenario. In contrast, all species within high thermal variation habitats (open forest temporary ponds) are expected to experience stressful temperatures under present conditions.
The findings indicate that thermal physiology may not be a limiting factor for dendrobatid frog species' ranges in this equatorial mountain gradient. Highland species may need to adapt to suboptimal performance, while some lowland species could occupy higher elevations. This study emphasizes the importance of habitat buffering to mitigate thermal stress in the face of climate change for amphibians in tropical mountains.
Cerrado is a large and heterogeneous ecoregion in the Neotropics marked by the fire-prone savanna vegetation, to which succulent lineages are usually not associated due to this adverse condition. However, recent studies have highlighted the importance of Cerrado as an ancestral range for the origin, dispersal and in situ diversification of remarkable lineages of South American cacti. In this perspective, we explore the implications of these occurrences in the Cerrado, shedding light on a frequently overlooked aspect of this ecoregion—the role of scattered rocky outcrop habitats acting as micro-refuges for fire-sensitive lineages. We show that most cacti occurrences are associated with patches of rock outcrops across the Cerrado. In contrast, when terricolous, a few disparate and not closely related species can develop underground structures or present a specialized habit that facilitates their presence as a putative response to fire—reinforcing the evolutionary lability of fire adaptation in Cerrado lineages. Despite some notable endemisms, several occurrences are from species with core distributions in adjacent ecoregions (e.g. Caatinga and Chaco), demonstrating the permeability of Cerrado, which can act concomitantly as a biogeographical barrier (especially due to its fire-prone habitats) and as a corridor for biota interchange. Finally, we stress that Cerrado heterogeneity, often leading to different circumscriptions, is a relevant issue when studying and characterizing Neotropical biota, which must be further explored and considered to assess the evolutionary assembly of the biomes involved.
The well-proven positive correlation between the increased proportion of entire-leaved woody dicotyledonous species and increased mean annual temperature has been commonly used to estimate temperature in the past. However, in regions of colder climates, this relationship is not straightforward, questioning the accuracy of temperature estimation.
Finland, Poland, Germany.
Dicotyledons.
The floristic composition of 10 × 10 km squares in 20 km wide transects through Finland, Poland and Germany was analysed.
At higher temperatures, deciduous woody plants appeared to show the expected positive relationship between mean annual temperature and the proportion of entire leaf margins. However, we found a negative correlation within woody deciduous plants at higher latitudes with mean annual temperature values from approximately −2.5°C to +2–4°C and at all temperatures when all woody plants were included. Herbaceous species showed a weak relationship between morphology and temperature.
The hypothesis that the phenomenon was caused by a large percentage of entire-leaved evergreen species that winter under snow cover was rejected. These results indicate that using the leaf margin analysis method for past temperature estimation is increasingly inaccurate at colder temperatures. Consequently, we recommend avoiding this method at locations where the mean annual temperature falls below 5°C.
Glacial retreat at the end of the Pleistocene epoch opened vast expanses of emergent habitat in the northern hemisphere that were colonized by opportunistic taxa. However, species that undergo post-glacial expansion may have originated from one or several glacial refugia. We inferred the post-glacial expansion history of the Eastern Red-backed Salamander (Plethodon cinereus), a fully terrestrial species with a vast distribution despite severe dispersal limitations. Previous studies indicated populations south of the glacial boundary at the eastern and western limits of the distribution were closely related, suggesting either multiple refugia or an extraordinary post-glacial expansion event.
Eastern North America.
Plethodon cinereus (Green, 1818), Caudata: Plethodontidae.
We collected ddRAD-seq data from 106 individuals throughout the distribution of P. cinereus. We estimated phylogeographic structure, including finer-scale structure among the post-glacial populations. To test the origins and routes of colonization, we used ecological niche modelling, population trees and analyses of directional range expansion.
Analyses supported our hypothesis of a southeastern glacial refugium, with northward expansion along the Eastern Seaboard prior to westward invasion into the Great Lakes region, including southwestern expansion into unglaciated areas at the western end of the distribution. However, a distinct subgroup in the northwestern portion of the range raises the possibility of a second refugium near the ice-free Driftless Area.
Based on our results, we hypothesize a southeastern refugium from which most of today's northern populations undertook extensive post-glacial colonization. Our results indicate a geographically non-linear colonization history for P. cinereus.
To delineate present-day zoogeographical regions of terrestrial vertebrates (frogs, lizards, snakes, birds and non-volant mammals) in the Atlantic Forest. Within each taxonomic group, we examine the relative importance of abrupt climatic transitions, orographic barriers, past climate change and rivers in shaping zoogeographical boundaries.
South America's Atlantic Forest.
We applied a network-based method to delineate zoogeographical regions, using distribution data (range maps) for 455 species of frogs, 103 lizards, 220 snakes, 917 birds and 202 non-volant mammals, in 50 × 50 km grid cells. We used hierarchical generalized linear mixed-effects models to test environmental predictors associated with zoogeographical boundaries. Finally, we intersected the bioregion maps delineated for each group to identify general patterns across all vertebrates.
We identified four zoogeographical regions for birds and snakes, and five for frogs, lizards and non-volant mammals. Depending on the group, contemporary and past climate conditions, elevation variation and/or rivers were associated with zoogeographical boundaries. The combined maps indicate that the Atlantic Forest retains four spatially cohesive zoogeographical regions based on present-day distribution of vertebrates.
Cross-taxon congruence indicates that the geographical and environmental characteristics of the Atlantic Forest have a strong influence on the location of zoogeographical regions for vertebrates. In contrast, transition zones appear to be associated with the spatial distribution of life history traits of each group, potentially explaining the observed differences in the number of bioregions across groups and the position of zoogeographical boundaries. This work paves the way for further research into the evolutionary assembly of the Atlantic Forest's zoogeographical regions and may help inform conservation priorities for maintaining their distinctive faunas.
To test the hypothesis that adaptive shifts leading to the assembly of tropical savannas involved coordination between bark and wood traits and to understand the underlying mechanisms.
Tropical South America.
Angiosperms (woody).
We compiled data on three bark traits (total, inner and outer relative bark thickness), wood density, maximum height, five secondary xylem traits and on species' habitat information (light environment, climate, soil and fire history) for Neotropical savanna, forest and generalist species (biome groups). We tested for pairwise and multivariate associations among traits across species and if biome group and habitat conditions explained species positions along the resulting strategy axes.
Traits covaried along four different axes. The first axis was consistent with a trade-off between fire (thick barks) and shade tolerance (low bark to diameter ratio, high vessel density) and contributed to differentiate the three biome groups according to the preference for shaded environments. Forest species also differed from savanna and generalist species in a separate axis by being more resource acquisitive. Maximum height and wood density did not strongly trade-off with bark thickness, although maximum height was negatively covaried with relative outer bark thickness. Preference for shaded conditions was the main driver of variation in the two principal strategy axes, but temperature, fire and soil sand content also explained differences in plant stature between savanna and generalist species.
Allocation to bark is constrained by trade-offs with wood, opposing shade-tolerant and acquisitive forest species to fire-resistant and conservative savanna species. Rather than a single strategy axis, three axes are necessary to understand the functional differences among savanna, forest and generalist species. Because two of these axes are controlled by light availability, the associated traits tend to covary in space and time, but not across species.
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