Global warming, elevational ranges and the vulnerability of tropical biota |
| |
| Institution: | aSchool of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Cairns, Queensland, Australia;bSmithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancón, Panama;cCentre for Biodiversity and Climate Change Research, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia;dAsociación Armon?´a, BirdLife International, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia;eInstitute of Systematic Botany, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland;fInstituto de Ecolog?´a, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico;gInstitut für Spezielle Zoologie und Evolutionsbiologie mit Phyletischem Museum, Jena, Germany;hDepartment of Geography, University College London, London, UK;iDepartment of Biology, University of York, York, UK;jInstitute of Botany, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria;kDepartment of Animal Biodiversity, University of Vienna, Rennweg, Vienna, Austria;lZoological Museum of the Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland;mInstitute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands;nDivision of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA;oDepartment of Biology, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY, USA;pCIRCLE (Centre for the Integration of Research, Conservation and Learning), Environment Department, University of York, UK;qFlamingo Land Ltd., Malton, UK;rUniversite de La Reunion, St. Denis, Reunion;sThe Wilderness Society, Denver, CO, USA;tLaboratorio de Ecolog?´a, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México D.F., Mexico;uRoyal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, UK;vDepartment of Biology, Columbus State University, Columbus, GA, USA;wInstitute for Environmental Sciences, University Koblenz-Landau, Landau, Germany;xMissouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO, USA;yFaculty of Forestry and Nature Conservation, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda;zLehrstuhl Tierökologie II, Bayreuth, Germany;aaPlant Ecology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany;abOrganización para Estudios Tropicales, Universidad de Costa Rica, San Pedro, Costa Rica;acDepartment of Zoology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA;adDepartamento de Ciencias Naturales y Matemáticas, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Cali, Colombia;aeCentro de Investigaciones Tropicales, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico;afDepartment of Entomology, Natural History Museum, London, UK;agStaatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany;ahEvergreen State College, Olympia, WA, USA;aiDepartment of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA;ajField Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL, USA;akSchool of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK;alInstitute for Tropical Ecosystem Studies, University of Puerto Rico in R?´o Piedras, San Juan, Puerto Rico;amDepartment of Conservation Ecology and Entomology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa;anAddis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia;aoCenter for Tropical Research, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA;apResearch School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, A.C.T., Australia |
| |
| Abstract: | Tropical species with narrow elevational ranges may be thermally specialized and vulnerable to global warming. Local studies of distributions along elevational gradients reveal small-scale patterns but do not allow generalizations among geographic regions or taxa. We critically assessed data from 249 studies of species elevational distributions in the American, African, and Asia-Pacific tropics. Of these, 150 had sufficient data quality, sampling intensity, elevational range, and freedom from serious habitat disturbance to permit robust across-study comparisons. We found four main patterns: (1) species classified as elevational specialists (upper- or lower-zone specialists) are relatively more frequent in the American than Asia-Pacific tropics, with African tropics being intermediate; (2) elevational specialists are rare on islands, especially oceanic and smaller continental islands, largely due to a paucity of upper-zone specialists; (3) a relatively high proportion of plants and ectothermic vertebrates (amphibians and reptiles) are upper-zone specialists; and (4) relatively few endothermic vertebrates (birds and mammals) are upper-zone specialists. Understanding these broad-scale trends will help identify taxa and geographic regions vulnerable to global warming and highlight future research priorities. |
| |
| Keywords: | Africa Asia-Pacific Biodiversity Climate change Elevational range Endemism Extinction Global warming Montane areas Neotropics Thermal tolerance Tropical ecosystems |
| 本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录！ |
|
