Find research datasets worth reusing
Search datasets from major research repositories and use ShareScore to quickly assess how well each record supports discovery, access, and reuse.
2,260
datasets available to search
ShareScore release 0.9.0
Dataset results
2,260 results for “Climatic change”
Data from: Modeling the effects of anthropogenic exploitation and climate change on an endemic stag beetle, Lucanus miwai, of Taiwan
Loss of biodiversity is a worldwide phenomenon and conservation of endemic species is becoming a pressing issue. However, species differ in life history characteristics, causing the best strategy for conservation to vary among species. Lucanus miwai is an endemic stag beetle of Taiwan, but the natural history and the conservation status of L. miwai have not been fully studied. Lucanus miwai adults live in forest-edge grassland habitats and are experiencing threats from anthropogenic exploitation. Additionally, climate change may threaten its long-term survival because of its specific habitat preference. Results from this study clearly indicate the need for more studies on the natural history of L. miwai and demonstrate that contemporary intensity of anthropogenic exploitation can have a negative effect on population size of this species. Future habitat loss because of global climate change, in addition, can be another major factor leading to population decline. Moreover, increasing demands on L. miwai because of population decline may lead to population extinction. In addition to protecting adult males from being collected, conservation strategies should also focus on discovering habitats utilized by individuals from different life stages, investigating the connectivity between populations, and maintaining the long-term availability of suitable habitats for L. miwai.
Data from: Response diversity in Mediterranean coralligenous assemblages facing climate change: Insights from a multispecific thermotolerance experiment
Climate change threatens coastal benthic communities on a global scale. However, the potential effects of ongoing warming on mesophotic temperate reefs at the community level remain poorly understood. Investigating how different members of these communities will respond to the future expected environmental conditions is, therefore, key to anticipating their future trajectories and developing specific management and conservation strategies. Here, we examined the responses of some of the main components of the highly diverse Mediterranean coralligenous assemblages to thermal stress. We performed thermotolerance experiments with different temperature treatments (from 26 to 29°C) with 10 species from different phyla (three anthozoans, six sponges and one ascidian) and different structural roles. Overall, we observed species‐specific contrasting responses to warming regardless of phyla or growth form. Moreover, the responses ranged from highly resistant species to sensitive species and were mostly in agreement with previous field observations from mass mortality events (MMEs) linked to Mediterranean marine heat waves. Our results unravel the diversity of responses to warming in coralligenous outcrops and suggest the presence of potential winners and losers in the face of climate change. Finally, this study highlights the importance of accounting for species‐specific vulnerabilities and response diversity when forecasting the future trajectories of temperate benthic communities in a warming ocean.
Data from: Predicting the impacts of climate change on Papio baboon biogeography: are widespread, generalist primates 'safe'?
Aims: To explore whether wide-ranging, generalist primates like baboons can be presumed 'resilient' in the face of climate change. We identify environmental variables influencing baboons' current distributions and predict their future potential distributions under different climate change scenarios. Location: Africa and Arabia. Taxon: Baboons, Papio spp. Methods: We used localities for olive, yellow, Guinea, hamadryas, chacma and Kinda baboons together with high-resolution data on bioclimatic variables, altitude and vegetation to construct species distribution models (SDMs). These SDMs were run under current and future conditions, with future models based on three General Circulation Models (MIROC-ESM, CCSM4 and HadGEM2-ES) under two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP2.5 and 6.0) for 2050 and 2070 to explore a range of different possible futures. Results: All SDMs produced AUC values >0.916 suggesting excellent overall performance. Altitude was the most important variable influencing Guinea baboon distributions (contributing 41.6%), temperature seasonality for olive and yellow baboons (47.5% and 35.4% respectively), precipitation of the driest month for hamadryas baboons (24.4%), annual mean precipitation for the Kinda baboon (45.1%) and mean temperature of the driest quarter for chacma baboons (41.4%). Chacma and Kinda baboons are predicted to suffer substantial habitat loss, and Guinea baboons may do the same if conditions aridify as climates warm. In contrast, all models for the olive and hamadryas baboons predicted an increase in suitable habitat and only smaller changes were predicted for the yellow baboon. Main conclusions: Two or three of six baboon taxa are at risk of significant habitat loss as climates warm despite their apparent ecological flexibility. The chacma and Kinda baboons (both IUCN listed as Least Concern) will be worst affected, followed by the Guinea baboon (Near Threatened) if warming brings aridification. We recommend more focus on biogeographic tools as a means of exploring vulnerabilities in seemingly resilient species.
Data from: Climate change, snow mold, and the Bromus tectorum invasion: mixed evidence for release from cold weather pathogens
Climate change is reducing the depth and duration of winter snowpack, leading to dramatic changes in the soil environment with potentially important ecological consequences. Previous experiments in the Intermountain West of North America indicated that loss of snowpack increases survival and population growth rates of the invasive annual grass Bromus tectorum; however, the underlying mechanism is unknown. We hypothesized that reduced snowpack might promote B. tectorum population growth by decreasing damage from snow molds, a group of subnivean fungal pathogens. To test this hypothesis, we conducted greenhouse and field experiments to investigate the interaction between early snowmelt and either fungicide addition or snow mold infection of B. tectorum. The greenhouse experiment confirmed that the snow mold Microdochium nivale can cause mortality of B. tectorum seedlings. In the field experiment, early snowmelt and fungicide application both increased B. tectorum survival, but their effects did not interact, and snow mold inoculation had no effect on survival. We did find interactive effects of snowmelt and fungal treatments on B. tectorum seed production: with ambient snowpack, M. nivale inoculation reduced seed production and fungicide increased it, whereas in the early snowmelt treatment seed production was high regardless of fungal treatment. However, treatment effects on seed production did not translate directly to overall population growth, which did not respond to the snow melt by fungal treatment interaction. Based on our mixed results, the hypothesis that reduced snowpack may increase B. tectorum fitness by limiting the effects of plant pathogens deserves further investigation.
Data from: Variation in growth and defence traits among plant populations at different elevations: implications for adaptation to climate change
Alpine plants occurring at high elevation are vulnerable to ongoing climate change, yet relatively little is known about the potential for high‐elevation species to adapt to changing environmental conditions. In particular, the extent to which high‐elevation plants will be able to resist predicted increases in the intensity of biotic interactions, such as herbivory, remains unclear. Species distributed across broad elevational ranges provide an opportunity to investigate evolutionary mechanisms and traits involved in adaptation to varying abiotic and biotic environments. This study focused on the perennial alpine plant Arabis alpina and combined field surveys and climate‐chamber experiments to test for intraspecific genetic divergence in traits related to growth and defence against herbivores. We screened multiple populations from low, intermediate and high elevations across a broad geographic area, characterising differences in growth form, leaf structural traits, palatability for herbivores and defensive chemistry. We then quantified the proportion of variation explained by elevation and population‐level effects. Our results document within‐species genetic divergence in multiple traits relevant for adaptation to the different abiotic and biotic pressures experienced at low and high elevations. Rates of herbivore damage declined with increasing elevation in the field, but plants from high‐ and intermediate‐elevation populations were generally more palatable for specialist herbivores than those from low‐elevation populations in feeding assays. Elevational clines were also observed in several glucosinolate defence compounds, and leaf herbivory more strongly induced glucosinolates in plants from high‐elevation populations than in those from low‐elevation populations. Leaf trichome density and growth form also diverged among populations contributing to growth‐defence phenotypes associated with different elevations. However, populations from similar elevations often differed significantly in both growth and defence‐related traits, with trait variation often better explained by population‐level effects than by elevation alone. Synthesis: Arabis alpina exhibits patterns of genetic variation in growth and defence traits consistent with adaptation to different elevations. However, populations from similar elevations also diverged in many of these ecologically relevant traits. Together, the extent of the observed trait variation suggests that this alpine species has considerable potential to adapt to a changing biotic environment.
Data from: Drought-induced starvation of aardvarks in the Kalahari: an indirect effect of climate change
Aardvarks (Orycteropus afer) are elusive burrowing mammals, predominantly nocturnal and distributed widely throughout Africa except for arid deserts. Their survival may be threatened by climate change via direct and indirect effects of increasing heat and aridity. To measure their current physiological plasticity, we implanted biologgers into six adult aardvarks resident in the semi-arid Kalahari. Following a particularly dry and hot summer, five of the study aardvarks and 11 other aardvarks at the study site died. Body temperature records revealed homeothermy (35.4–37.2°C) initially, but heterothermy increased progressively through the summer, with declining troughs in the nychthemeral rhythm of body temperature reaching as low as 25°C before death, likely due to starvation. Activity patterns shifted from the normal nocturnal to a diurnal mode. Our results do not bode well for the future of aardvarks facing climate change. Extirpation of aardvarks, which play a key role as ecosystem engineers, may disrupt stability of African ecosystems.
Data from: Multilocus phylogeography of a widespread savanna-woodland adapted rodent reveals the influence of Pleistocene geomorphology and climate change in Africa's Zambezi region
Understanding historical influences of climate and physiographic barriers in shaping patterns of biodiversity remains limited for many regions of the world. For mammals of continental Africa, phylogeographic studies, particularly for West African lineages, implicate both geographic barriers and climate oscillations in shaping small mammal diversity. In contrast, studies for southern African species have revealed conflicting phylogenetic patterns for how mammalian lineages respond to both climate change and geologic events such as river formation, especially during the Pleistocene. However, these studies were often biased by limited geographic sampling or exclusively focused on large-bodied taxa. We exploited the broad southern African distribution of a savanna–woodland-adapted African rodent, Gerbilliscus leucogaster (bushveld gerbil) and generated mitochondrial, autosomal and sex chromosome data to quantify regional signatures of climatic and vicariant biogeographic phenomena. Results indicate the most recent common ancestor for all G. leucogaster lineages occurred during the early Pleistocene. We documented six divergent mitochondrial lineages that diverged ~0.270–0.100 mya, each of which was geographically isolated during periods characterized by alterations to the course of the Zambezi River and its tributaries as well as regional 'megadroughts'. Results demonstrate the presence of a widespread lineage exhibiting demographic expansion ~0.065–0.035 mya, a time that coincides with savanna–woodland expansion across southern Africa. A multilocus autosomal perspective revealed the influence of the Kafue River as a current barrier to gene flow and regions of secondary contact among divergent mitochondrial lineages. Our results demonstrate the importance of both climatic fluctuations and physiographic vicariance in shaping the distribution of southern African biodiversity.
Data from: Pleistocene climatic changes drive diversification across a tropical savanna
Spatial responses of species to past climate change depend on both intrinsic traits (climatic niche breadth, dispersal rates) and the scale of climatic fluctuations across the landscape. New capabilities in generating and analysing population genomic data, along with spatial modelling, have unleashed our capacity to infer how past climate changes have shaped populations, and by extension, complex communities. Combining these approaches, we uncover lineage diversity across four co-distributed lizards from the Australian Monsoonal Tropics and explore how varying climatic tolerances interact with regional climate history to generate common versus disparate responses to late Pleistocene change. We find more divergent spatial structuring and temporal demographic responses in the drier Kimberley region compared to the more mesic and consistently suitable Top End. We hypothesize that, in general, the effects of species' traits on sensitivity to climate fluctuation will be more evident in climatically marginal regions. If true, this points to the need in climatically marginal areas to craft more species- (or trait-) specific strategies for persistence under future climate change.
Data from: Climate change and the latitudinal selectivity of ancient marine extinctions
Geologically rapid climate change is anticipated to increase extinction risk non-uniformly across the Earth's surface. Tropical species may be more vulnerable than temperate species to current climate warming because of high tropical climate velocities and reduced seawater oxygen levels. To test if rapid warming indeed preferentially increased the extinction risk of tropical fossil taxa, we combine a robust statistical assessment of latitudinal extinction selectivity (LES) with the dominant views on climate change occurring at ancient extinction crises. Using a global dataset of marine fossil occurrences, we assess extinction rates for tropical and temperate genera, applying log-ratios to assess effect size and Akaike weights for model support. Among the classical 'Big Five' mass extinction episodes, the end-Permian mass extinction exhibits temperate preference of extinctions, whereas the Late Devonian and end-Triassic selectively hit tropical genera. Simple links between the inferred direction of climate change and LES are idiosyncratic, both during crisis and background intervals. More complex models, including sampling patterns and changes in the latitudinal distribution of continental shelf area, show tropical LES to be generally associated with raised tropical heat and temperate LES with global cold temperatures. With implications for the future, our paper demonstrates the consistency of high tropical temperatures, habitat loss and the capacity of both to interact in generating geographic patterns in extinctions.
Data from: A genome‐wide search for local adaptation in a terrestrial‐breeding frog reveals vulnerability to climate change
Terrestrial‐breeding amphibians are likely to be vulnerable to warming and drying climates, as their embryos require consistent moisture for successful development. Adaptation to environmental change will depend on sufficient genetic variation existing within or between connected populations. Here, we use Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) data to investigate genome‐wide patterns in genetic diversity, gene flow and local adaptation in a terrestrial‐breeding frog (Pseudophryne guentheri) subject to a rapidly drying climate and recent habitat fragmentation. The species was sampled across 12 central and range‐edge populations (192 samples), and strong genetic structure was apparent, as were high inbreeding coefficients. Populations showed differences in genetic diversity, and one population lost significant genetic diversity in a decade. More than 500 SNP loci were putatively under directional selection, and 413 of these loci were correlated with environmental variables such as temperature, rainfall, evaporation and soil moisture. One locus showed homology to a gene involved in the activation of maturation in Xenopus oocytes, which may facilitate rapid development of embryos in drier climates. The low genetic diversity, strong population structuring and presence of local adaptation revealed in this study shows why management strategies such as targeted gene flow may be necessary to assist isolated populations to adapt to future climates.
Data from: European wildcat populations are subdivided into five main biogeographic groups: consequences of Pleistocene climate changes or recent anthropogenic fragmentation?
Extant populations of the European wildcat are fragmented across the continent, the likely consequence of recent extirpations due to habitat loss and over-hunting. However, their underlying phylogeographic history has never been reconstructed. For testing the hypothesis that the European wildcat survived the Ice Age fragmented in Mediterranean refuges, we assayed the genetic variation at 31 microsatellites in 668 presumptive European wildcats sampled in 15 European countries. Moreover, to evaluate the extent of subspecies/population divergence and identify eventual wild × domestic cat hybrids, we genotyped 26 African wildcats from Sardinia and North Africa and 294 random-bred domestic cats. Results of multivariate analyses and Bayesian clustering confirmed that the European wild and the domestic cats (plus the African wildcats) belong to two well-differentiated clusters (average ФST = 0.159, rst = 0.392, P > 0.001; Analysis of molecular variance [AMOVA]). We identified from c. 5% to 10% cryptic hybrids in southern and central European populations. In contrast, wild-living cats in Hungary and Scotland showed deep signatures of genetic admixture and introgression with domestic cats. The European wildcats are subdivided into five main genetic clusters (average ФST = 0.103, rst = 0.143, P > 0.001; AMOVA) corresponding to five biogeographic groups, respectively, distributed in the Iberian Peninsula, central Europe, central Germany, Italian Peninsula and the island of Sicily, and in north-eastern Italy and northern Balkan regions (Dinaric Alps). Approximate Bayesian Computation simulations supported late Pleistocene–early Holocene population splittings (from c. 60 k to 10 k years ago), contemporary to the last Ice Age climatic changes. These results provide evidences for wildcat Mediterranean refuges in southwestern Europe, but the evolution history of eastern wildcat populations remains to be clarified. Historical genetic subdivisions suggest conservation strategies aimed at enhancing gene flow through the restoration of ecological corridors within each biogeographic units. Concomitantly, the risk of hybridization with free-ranging domestic cats along corridor edges should be carefully monitored.
Data from: Ecological co-associations influence species' responses to past climatic change: an example from a Sonoran Desert bark beetle
Ecologically interacting species may have phylogeographic histories that are shaped both by features of their abiotic landscape, and by biotic constraints imposed by their co-association. The Baja California peninsula provides an excellent opportunity to examine the influence of abiotic vs. biotic factors on patterns of diversity in plant-insect species. This is because past climatic and geological changes impacted the genetic structure of plants quite differently to that of co-distributed free-living animals (e.g., herpetofauna and small mammals). Thus, 'plant-like' patterns should be discernible in host-specific insect herbivores. Here we investigate the population history of a monophagous bark beetle, Araptus attenuatus, and consider drivers of phylogeographic patterns in light of previous work on its host plant, Euphorbia lomelii. Based on mitochondrial and nuclear markers, we found that the evolutionary history of A. attenuatus exhibits similarities to host plant that are attributable to both biotic and abiotic processes. Southward range expansion and recent colonization of continental Sonora peninsula appear to be unique to this taxon pair, and likely reflect influences of the host plant. On the other hand, abiotic factors with landscape-level influences on suites of co-distributed taxa, such as Plio- and Pleistocene-aged marine incursions in the region, also left genetic signatures in beetle populations. Superimposed on these similarities, bark beetle-specific patterns and processes were also evident. Taken together, this work illustrates that the evolutionary history of species-specific insect herbivores may represent a mosaic of influences, including—but not limited to—those imposed by the host plant.
Data from: Modeling effects of climate change and phase shifts on detrital production of a kelp bed
The exchange of energy and nutrients between ecosystems (i.e., resource subsidies) plays a central role in ecological dynamics over a range of spatial and temporal scales. Little attention has been paid to the role of anthropogenic impacts on natural systems in altering the magnitude, timing, and quality of resource subsidies. Kelp ecosystems are highly productive on a local scale and export over 80% of kelp primary production as detritus, subsidizing consumers across broad spatial scales. Here, we generate a model of detrital production from a kelp bed in Nova Scotia to hindcast trends in detrital production based on temperature and wave height recorded in the study region from 1976 to 2009, and to project changes in detrital production that may result from future climate change. Historical and projected increases in temperature and wave height led to higher rates of detrital production through increased blade breakage and kelp dislodgment from the substratum, but this reduced kelp biomass and led to a decline in detrital production in the long term. We also used the model to demonstrate that the phase shift from a highly productive kelp bed to a low-productivity barrens, driven by the grazing activity of sea urchins, reduces kelp detrital production by several orders of magnitude, an effect that would be exacerbated by projected increases in temperature and wave action. These results indicate that climate-mediated changes in ecological dynamics operating on local scales may alter the magnitude of resource subsidies to adjacent ecosystems, affecting ecological dynamics on regional scales.
Climate change, sex reversal, and lability of sex determining systems
Sex reversal at high temperatures during embryonic development (e.g. ZZ females) provides the opportunity for new genotypic crosses (e.g. ZZ male x ZZ female). This raises the alarming possibility that climatic warming could lead to the loss of an entire chromosome – one member of the sex chromosome pair (the Y or W) – and the transition of populations to environmental sex determination (ESD). Here we examine the evolutionary dynamics of sex-determining systems exposed to climatic warming using theoretical models. We found that the loss of sex chromosomes is not an inevitable consequence of sex reversal. A large frequency of ZZ sex reversal (50% reversal from male to female) typically divides the outcome between loss of the ZW genotype and the stable persistence of ZZ males, ZW females, and ZZ females. The amount of warming associated with sex chromosome loss depended on several features of wild populations – environmental fluctuation, immigration, heritable variation in temperature sensitivity, and differential fecundity of sex-reversed individuals. Chromosome loss was partially or completely buffered when sex-reversed individuals suffered a reproductive fitness cost, when immigration occurred, or when heritable variation for temperature sensitivity existed. Thus, under certain circumstances, sex chromosomes may persist cryptically in systems where the environment is the predominant influence on sex.
Data from: Global drivers of tree seedling establishment at alpine treelines in a changing climate
Alpine and Arctic treeline expansion depends on establishment of tree seedlings beyond the current treeline, which is expected to occur with climate warming. However, treelines often fail to respond to higher temperatures, and it is therefore likely that other environmental factors are important for seedling establishment. We aimed to analyse our current understanding of how temperature and a range of other environmental drivers affect tree seedling establishment at the alpine and Arctic treelines worldwide, and to assess the relative importance of temperature compared with other factors and how they interact. We collected 366 observations from 76 experimental and observational papers for a qualitative analysis of the role of a wide range of environmental factors on tree seed germination, tree seedling growth, survival and natural occurrence. For a subset of these studies, where the experimental design allowed, we conducted formal meta-analyses to reveal if there were global drivers for different seedling life traits. The analyses showed that a wide range of abiotic and biotic factors affected tree seedling establishment besides from temperature, including water, snow, nutrients, light, and surrounding vegetation. The meta-analyses showed that different seedling life stages do not respond similarly to environmental factors. For example, temperature had positive effects on growth, while tree seedling survival and germination showed mixed responses to warming. Further, warming was as often as not the strongest factor controlling tree seedling establishment, when compared to with one of five other environmental factors. Moreover, warming effects often depended on other factors such as moisture or the presence of surrounding vegetation. Our results suggests that population dynamics of trees at the alpine and Arctic treeline are responsive to environmental changes and show that there is a clear need for multi-factorial studies if we want to fully understand and predict the interplay between warming and other environmental factors and their effect on tree seedling establishment across current treelines.
Data from: Patterns and biases in climate change research on amphibians and reptiles: a systematic review
Climate change probably has severe impacts on animal populations, but demonstrating a causal link can be difficult because of potential influences by additional factors. Assessing global impacts of climate change effects may also be hampered by narrow taxonomic and geographical research foci. We review studies on the effects of climate change on populations of amphibians and reptiles to assess climate change effects and potential biases associated with the body of work that has been conducted within the last decade. We use data from 104 studies regarding the effect of climate on 313 species, from 464 species–study combinations. Climate change effects were reported in 65% of studies. Climate change was identified as causing population declines or range restrictions in half of the cases. The probability of identifying an effect of climate change varied among regions, taxa and research methods. Climatic effects were equally prevalent in studies exclusively investigating climate factors (more than 50% of studies) and in studies including additional factors, thus bolstering confidence in the results of studies exclusively examining effects of climate change. Our analyses reveal biases with respect to geography, taxonomy and research question, making global conclusions impossible. Additional research should focus on under-represented regions, taxa and questions. Conservation and climate policy should consider the documented harm climate change causes reptiles and amphibians.
Data from: Looking into the past – the reaction of three grouse species to climate change over the last million years using whole genome sequences
Tracking past population fluctuations can give insight into current levels of genetic variation present within species. Analysing population dynamics over larger time scales can be aligned to known climatic changes to determine the response of species to varying environments. Here, we applied the Pairwise Sequentially Markovian Coalescent (PSMC) model to infer past population dynamics of three widespread grouse species; black grouse, willow grouse and rock ptarmigan. This allowed the tracking of the effective population size (Ne) of all three species beyond 1 Mya, revealing that i) early Pleistocene cooling (~2.5 Mya) caused an increase in the willow grouse and rock ptarmigan populations, ii) the mid-Brunhes event (~430 kya) and following climatic oscillations decreased the Ne of willow grouse and rock ptarmigan, but increased the Ne of black grouse and iii) all three species reacted differently to the last glacial maximum (LGM) – black grouse increased prior to it, rock ptarmigan experienced a severe bottleneck and willow grouse was maintained at large population size. We postulate that the varying PSMC signal throughout the LGM depicts only the local history of the species. Nevertheless, the large population fluctuations in willow grouse and rock ptarmigan indicate that both species are opportunistic breeders while black grouse tracks the climatic changes more slowly and is maintained at lower Ne. Our results highlight the usefulness of the PSMC approach in investigating species' reaction to climate change in the deep past, but also that caution should be taken in drawing general conclusions about the recent past.
Data from: Can impacts of climate change and agricultural adaptation strategies be accurately quantified if crop models are annually re-initialized?
Estimates of climate change impacts on global food production are generally based on statistical or process-based models. Process-based models can provide robust predictions of agricultural yield responses to changing climate and management. However, applications of these models often suffer from bias due to the common practice of re-initializing soil conditions to the same state for each year of the forecast period. If simulations neglect to include year-to-year changes in initial soil conditions and water content related to agronomic management, adaptation and mitigation strategies designed to maintain stable yields under climate change cannot be properly evaluated. We apply a process-based crop system model that avoids re-initialization bias to demonstrate the importance of simulating both year-to-year and cumulative changes in pre-season soil carbon, nutrient, and water availability. Results are contrasted with simulations using annual re-initialization, and differences are striking. We then demonstrate the potential for the most likely adaptation strategy to offset climate change impacts on yields using continuous simulations through the end of the 21st century. Simulations that annually re-initialize pre-season soil carbon and water contents introduce an inappropriate yield bias that obscures the potential for agricultural management to ameliorate the deleterious effects of rising temperatures and greater rainfall variability.
Data from: Phenology differences between native and novel exotic-dominated grasslands rival the effects of climate change
1. Novel ecosystems can differ from the native systems they replaced. We used phenology measures to compare ecosystem functioning between novel exotic-dominated and native-dominated grasslands in the central US. 2. Phenology, or timing of biological events, is affected by climate and land use changes. We assessed how phenology shifts are being altered by exotic species dominance by comparing remotely sensed Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) within growing seasons at exotic- and native-dominated sites along a latitudinal gradient. Exotic species were dominated by the C3 species functional group in the north and the C4 species functional group in the south. 3. Date of senescence was an average of 36 days later in exotic than native-dominated grasslands, and this effect was consistent across latitudes. 4. Exotic-dominated grasslands greened up an average of 10.7 days earlier than native-dominated grasslands, but this effect was highly dependent on latitude and the plant functional group that dominated at that latitude. Greenup differed between native and exotic sites the most in central and northern regions that had dominant C3 grasses. 5. We estimated the effects of an increase in global temperatures on green-up and senescence with a space-for-time substitution, and by comparing growing degree day differences between historical average temperatures and +2.5° C. Green-up was significantly earlier and senescence was significantly later with a 2.5 ° C increase in temperature. The native-exotic difference was significantly greater than the difference due to increased temperature for senescence, but not for green-up. 6. Synthesis and applications. Native to exotic plant conversions in central US grasslands have led to highly altered phenology, especially in terms of senescence, and this effect should be considered along with global warming in models moving forward. This conversion will have to be considered in developing estimates of how global change will affect phenology in locations where exotics are present, especially in cases where their abundance is increasing concurrent with climate change. Global change models and policy should consider exotic species invasion as an additional widespread factor behind changes in phenology.
Data from: The interactive effects of photoperiod and future climate change may have negative consequences for a wide-spread invasive insect
Increasing global temperatures may affect many ectotherms, including insects, although increasing temperatures are thought to benefit future populations through effects on adult size, fecundity, or populations. However, the way that temperature may interact with photoperiod is not well understood. We study this problem using the Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus, an important worldwide invasive whose future spread is thought to be affected by changes in climate. We investigated how mass at maturity varied with temperature (21°C, 25°C) across short and long photoperiods, using laboratory populations from the extreme ends of this species' current US range (Florida, New Jersey). These values were used to parametrize a model to predict optimal mass based on development times; the results of a second laboratory experiment under the same treatments were compared to model predictions. Warmer conditions shortened development times in females from all locations leading to either higher or lower mass depending on the photoperiod. We then used published mass–fecundity relationships to determine the consequences of mass on fecundity under our conditions. Under the majority of scenarios warming decreased predicted fecundity under long photoperiods, but proved beneficial under short photoperiods because the costs of fast development were offset by increased survival in the face of late-season freezing risk. However, fecundity was always low under short photoperiods, so the marginal benefit of warming appears negligible given its cost under long photoperiods when the majority of reproduction occurs. Thus, with northern range expansion, where colder weather currently limits this species, detrimental effects of warming on fecundity are likely, similar to those identified for mass. Unlike previous work that has shown benefits of a warming planet to insects like Aedes albopictus, our work predicts lower performance under warming conditions in summer across the current range, a prediction with implications for range expansion, disease dynamics and populations.
ScienceDex guides
Understand access before you commit
These curated guides explain access requirements, typical timelines, costs, and reuse considerations for widely used research datasets.
Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.
Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.
International Brain Laboratory public data
The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.