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2,837 results for “Climate Data”
Data from: Climatic conditions produce contrasting influences on demographic traits in a long distance Arctic migrant
The manner in which patterns of variation and interactions among demographic rates contribute to population growth rate (λ) is key to understanding how animal populations will respond to changing climatic conditions. Migratory species are likely to be particularly sensitive to climatic conditions as they experience a range of different environments throughout their annual cycle. However, few studies have provided fully integrated demographic analyses of migratory populations in response to changing climatic conditions. Here, we employed integrated population models to demonstrate that the environmental conditions experienced during a short but critical period play a central role in the demography of a long-distance migrant, the light-bellied Brent goose (Branta bernicla hrota). Female survival was positively associated with June North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) values, whereas male survival was not. In contrast, breeding productivity was negatively associated with June NAO, suggesting a trade-off between female survival and reproductive success. Both adult female and adult male survival showed low temporal variation, whereas there was high temporal variation in recruitment and breeding productivity. In addition, while annual population growth was positively correlated with annual breeding productivity, a sensitivity analysis revealed that population growth was most sensitive to changes in adult survival. Our results demonstrate that the environmental conditions experienced during a relatively short-time window at the start of the breeding season play a critical role in shaping the demography of a long-distant Arctic migrant. Crucially, different demographic rates responded in opposing directions to climatic variation, emphasising the need for integrated analysis of multiple demographic traits when understanding population dynamics.
Data from: Identifying the critical climatic time window that affects trait expression
Identifying the critical time window during which climatic drivers affect the expression of phenological, behavioral, and demographic traits is crucial for predicting the impact of climate change on trait and population dynamics. Two widely used associative methods exist to identify critical climatic periods: sliding-window models and recursive operators in which the memory of past weather fades over time. Both approaches have different strong points, which we combine here into a single method. Our method uses flexible functions to differentially weight past weather, which can reflect competing hypotheses about time lags and the relative importance of recent and past weather for trait expression. Using a 22-year data set, we illustrate that the climatic window identified by our new method explains more of the phenological variation in a sexually selected trait than existing approaches. Our new method thus helps to better identify the critical time window and the causes of trait response to environmental variability.
Data from: The seasonal climate niche predicts phenology and distribution of an ephemeral annual plant, Mollugo verticillata
1.Many short-lived species complete their life cycles during brief seasonal windows of favorable environmental conditions. Such species may persist in the face of climate warming by migration to track their seasonal climate niche in space and/or by phenological shifts to track favorable conditions in time within the year. To describe the seasonal climate niche of the short-lived annual Mollugo verticillata in California, we used data from herbarium specimens and historic climate records to estimate environmental conditions at the location, month and year of each collection. 2.We used these data in a MaxEnt framework to construct a seasonal species distribution model (SDM) of the species' climate niche within the total climate space available across all seasons and locations in California. The model provides fine-scale spatial and temporal predictions of habitat suitability, predicting both where and when the species should be observed. 3.We compared the predictions of the model to those from a conventional SDM based on mean annual climate data. Both models showed that M. verticillata is limited to warm environments within California. However, the seasonal SDM also predicted phenology by mapping climate suitability across the state for each month of the year. Mollugo verticillata is limited to warm months, and its seasonal climate niche shifts in space across California in the course of the year. 4.We used the seasonal SDM to map the predicted future species distribution for each month of the year under three warming scenarios. The species is predicted to expand its range and occur earlier in the year in most locations; in the warmest locations seasonal suitability is predicted to decline in the warmest months, which may result in bimodal phenology with a mid-summer gap. 5.Synthesis - We developed a novel species distribution model using herbarium records and monthly weather data, which predicts not only where a short-lived species should be found, but when during the year it is predicted to occur in those areas. This model can be used to predict how climate change will affect the species distribution in space as well as seasonal phenology across the landscape.
Data from: Climate-driven build-up of temporal isolation within a recently formed avian hybrid zone
Divergence in the onset of reproduction can act as an important source of reproductive isolation (i.e. allochronic isolation) between co-occurring young species, but evidence for the evolutionary processes leading to such divergence is often indirect. While advancing spring seasons strongly affect the onset of reproduction in many taxa, it remains largely unexplored whether contemporary spring advancement directly affects allochronic isolation between young species. We examined how increasing spring temperatures affected onset of reproduction and thereby hybridization between pied and collared flycatchers (Ficedula spp.) across habitat types in a young secondary contact zone. We found that both species have advanced their timing of breeding in 14 years. However, selection on pied flycatchers to breed earlier was weaker, resulting in a slower response to advancing springs compared to collared flycatchers and thereby build-up of allochronic isolation between the species. We argue that a pre-adaptation to a broader niche use (diet) of pied flycatchers explains the slower response to raising spring temperature, but that reduced risk to hybridize may contribute to further divergence in the onset of breeding in the future. Our results show that minor differences in the response to environmental change of co-occurring closely related species can quickly cause allochronic isolation.
Data from: Genomic signatures of adaptation to Sahelian and Soudanian climates in sorghum landraces of Senegal
Uncovering the genomic basis of climate adaptation in traditional crop varieties can provide insight into plant evolution and facilitate breeding for climate resilience. In the African cereal sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. [Moench]), the genomic basis of adaptation to the semiarid Sahelian zone versus the subhumid Soudanian zone is largely unknown. To address this issue, we characterized a large panel of 421 georeferenced sorghum landrace accessions from Senegal and adjacent locations at 213,916 single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) using genotyping‐by‐sequencing. Seven subpopulations distributed along the north‐south precipitation gradient were identified. Redundancy analysis found that climate variables explained up to 8% of SNP variation, with climate collinear with space explaining most of this variation (6%). Genome scans of nucleotide diversity suggest positive selection on chromosome 2, 4, 5, 7, and 10 in durra sorghums, with successive adaptation during diffusion along the Sahel. Putative selective sweeps were identified, several of which colocalize with stay‐green drought tolerance (Stg) loci, and a priori candidate genes for photoperiodic flowering and inflorescence morphology. Genome‐wide association studies of photoperiod sensitivity and panicle compactness identified 35 and 13 associations that colocalize with a priori candidate genes, respectively. Climate‐associated SNPs colocalize with Stg3a, Stg1, Stg2, and Ma6 and have allelic distribution consistent with adaptation across Sahelian and Soudanian zones. Taken together, the findings suggest an oligogenic basis of adaptation to Sahelian versus Soudanian climates, underpinned by variation in conserved floral regulatory pathways and other systems that are less understood in cereals.
Data from: Age and area predict patterns of species richness in pumice rafts contingent on oceanic climatic zone encountered
The Theory of Island Biogeography predicts that area and age explain species richness patterns (or alpha diversity) in insular habitats. Using a unique natural phenomenon, pumice rafting, we measured the influence of area, age and oceanic climate on patterns of species richness. Pumice rafts are formed simultaneously when submarine volcanoes erupt, the pumice clasts break-up irregularly, forming irregularly shaped pumice stones which while floating through the ocean are colonised by marine biota. We analyse two eruption events and more than 5000 pumice clasts collected from 29 sites and three climatic zones. Overall the older and larger pumice clasts held more species. Pumice clasts arriving in tropical and subtropical climates showed this same trend, where in temperate locations species richness (alpha diversity) increased with area but decreased with age. Beta diversity analysis of the communities forming on pumice clasts that arrived in different climatic zones showed that tropical and subtropical clasts transported similar communities while species composition on temperate clasts differed significantly from both tropical and subtropical arrivals. Using these thousands of insular habitats, we find strong evidence that area and age but also climatic conditions predict the fundamental dynamics of species richness colonising pumice clasts.
Data from: Fire-regime complacency and sensitivity to centennial- through millennial-scale climate change in Rocky Mountain subalpine forests, Colorado, U.S.A.
1. Key uncertainties in anticipating future fire regimes are their sensitivity to climate change, and the degree to which climate will impact fire regimes directly, through increasing the probability of fire, versus indirectly, through changes in vegetation and landscape flammability. 2. We studied the sensitivity of subalpine forest fire regimes (i.e., fire frequency, fire severity) to previously documented climate variability over the past 6000 years, utilizing pollen and macroscopic charcoal from high-resolution lake-sediment records in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. We combined data from the four lakes to provide composite records of vegetation and fire history within a 200 km2 study area. 3. Rates of forest burning were relatively complacent to millennial-scale summer cooling and decreased effective moisture. Mean return intervals between fire episodes, defined over 500-year periods, generally varied between 150-250 years, consistent with tree-ring-based estimates spanning recent centuries. Variability around these long-term means, however, was significantly correlated with variability in summer moisture (i.e., more burning with drier summers), inferred from existing lake-level and supporting paleoenvironmental records. 4. The most pronounced change in fire regimes was in response to decreased subalpine forest density ca. 2400 cal. year BP, itself a response to regional cooling. This indirect impact of climate was followed by a decrease in charcoal production per fire, a proxy for crown-fire severity, while the long-term rate of burning remained unchanged. Over the last 1500 years, increased summer evaporation and drought frequency were associated with increased fire severity, highlighting a direct link between fire and climate. 5. Synthesis: Subalpine forest fire history reveals complacency and sensitivity of fire regimes to changing vegetation and hydroclimate over the past 6000 years. Complacency is highlighted by non-varying fire frequency over millennia. Sensitivity is evident through changes in biomass burned per fire (and inferred fire severity), in response to climate-induced changes in forest density and, more recently, increased summer drought. Overall, the paleo record suggests that (i) fire severity may be more responsive to climate change than fire frequency in Rocky Mountain subalpine forests, and (ii) the indirect impacts of climate on vegetation and fuels are important mechanisms determining fire-regime response to climate change.
Data from: Climate change will increase savannas at the expense of forests and treeless vegetation in tropical and subtropical Americas
1. Transition areas between biomes are particularly sensitive to environmental changes. Our understanding of the impacts of ongoing climate change on terrestrial ecosystems has significantly increased during the last years. However, it is largely unknown how climatic change will affect transitions among major vegetation types. 2. We modelled the distribution of three alternative states (forest, savanna and treeless areas) in the tropical and subtropical Americas by means of climate-niche modelling. We studied how such distribution will change by the year 2070 by using 17 downscaled and calibrated global climate models from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 and the latest scenarios provided by the 5th Assessment Report of the IPCC. 3. Our results support the savannization of the tropical and subtropical Americas because of climate change, with an increase in savannas mainly at the expense of forests. 4. Our models predict an important geographical shift in the current distribution of transition areas between forest and savannas, which is much less pronounced in the case of those between savannas and treeless areas. Largest shifts, up to 600 km northward, are predicted in the forest–savanna transitions located in the eastern Amazon. 5. Our findings indicate that climate change will promote a shift towards more unstable states: the extent of the transition areas will notably increase, and largely stable forest areas are predicted to shrink dramatically. 6. Synthesis. Our work explores dimensions of the impact of climate change on biomes that have received little attention so far. Our results indicate that climate change will not only affect the extent of savanna, forest and treeless areas in the tropical and subtropical Americas, but also will: (i) promote a significant geographical shift and an increase of the extent of transition areas between biomes and (ii) decrease the stability of the equilibrium between forest, savanna and treeless areas, yielding a more unpredictable system.
Data from: From past to future: impact of climate change on range shifts and genetic diversity patterns of circumboreal plants
Climate change is projected to influence the genetic resources of plant species. Recent research has examined genetic diversity patterns under current climate conditions, with little attention to the future genetic consequences for species. In this study, we combined ecological niche modeling and population genetic approaches to project future changes in genetic diversity using plastid and nuclear DNA and reconstructed distribution patterns of three circumboreal plants (Chamaedaphne calyculata, Linnaea borealis ssp. borealis, and Pedicularis sceptrum-carolinum ssp. sceptrum-carolinum) in the last glacial maximum. We found that circumboreal plants could potentially lose their geographic ranges in the future (2070; 35–52% in RCP 4.5 (representative concentration pathways), 37–53% in RCP 6.0, and 56–69% in RCP 8.5), only slightly compensated by a predicted range gain of 18–33% (across the three RCPs). It is expected that future genetic diversity level could remain similar or lower than the present level. On the other hand, the homogeneity of the genetic background—a lack of admixture and domination of one gene pool in most populations of C. calyculata and L. borealis ssp. borealis—was predicted to become more pronounced in the future. Combining the paleoecological niche modeling and genetic data revealed, more precisely, the climate refugia for circumboreal plants in the Alps, central Asia, Beringia, and southern North America and the macrorefugia more restricted to the northern part of Eurasia and North America, reaching the arctic zone.
Data from: Coping with the climate: cuticular hydrocarbon acclimation of ants under constant and fluctuating conditions
Terrestrial arthropods achieve waterproofing by a layer of cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs). At the same time, CHCs also serve as communication signals. To maintain waterproofing under different climate conditions, insects adjust the chemical composition of their CHC layer, but this may affect the communication via CHC. The detailed acclimatory changes of CHCs and how these influence their physical properties are still unknown. Here, we studied acclimation in two closely related ant species with distinct CHC profiles, Myrmica rubra and Myrmica ruginodis, in response to constant or fluctuating temperature and humidity regimes. We measured how acclimation affected CHC composition and viscosity, and the ants' drought survival. In both species, CHC composition showed strong, predictable responses to temperature regimes. Warm-acclimated individuals had higher proportions of linear alkanes, and less methyl-branched or unsaturated CHCs. These changes coincided with higher solid content and viscosity of CHCs in warm-acclimated ants. Temperature fluctuation caused effects similar to constant-cool conditions in M. rubra, but led to entirely different profiles in M. ruginodis, suggesting that fluctuating and constant conditions pose very different challenges. Acclimation to dry conditions led to higher absolute amounts of CHCs, which increased the ants' drought survival, whereas temperature acclimation did not. Hence, the temperature-induced CHC changes cannot be explained by the need for waterproofing alone. While these changes could be non-adaptive, we propose that they serve to maintain a constant CHC viscosity, which may be essential for communication and other functions.
Data from: Loci under selection during multiple range expansions of an invasive plant are mostly population-specific, but patterns are associated with climate
Identifying the genes underlying rapid evolutionary changes, describing their function and ascertaining the environmental pressures that determine fitness are the central elements needed for understanding of evolutionary processes and phenotypic changes that improve the fitness of populations. It has been hypothesized that rapid adaptive changes in new environments may contribute to the rapid spread and success of invasive plants and animals. As yet, studies of adaptation during invasion are scarce, as is knowledge of the genes underlying adaptation, especially in multiple replicated invasions. Here, we quantified how genotype frequencies change during invasions, resulting in rapid evolution of naturalized populations. We used six fully replicated common garden experiments in Brazil where Pinus taeda (loblolly pine) was introduced at the same time, in the same numbers, from the same seed sources, and has formed naturalized populations expanding outward from the plantations. We used a combination of nonparametric, population genetics and multivariate statistics to detect changes in genotype frequencies along each of the six naturalization gradients and their association with climate as well as shifts in allele frequencies compared to the source populations. Results show 25 genes with significant shifts in genotype frequencies. Six genes had shifts in more than one population. Climate explained 25% of the variation in the groups of genes under selection across all locations, but specific genes under strong selection during invasions did not show climate-related convergence. In conclusion, we detected rapid evolutionary changes during invasive range expansions, but the particular gene-level patterns of evolution may be population specific.
Data from: Observed forest sensitivity to climate implies large changes in 21st century North American forest growth
Predicting long-term trends in forest growth requires accurate characterisation of how the relationship between forest productivity and climatic stress varies across climatic regimes. Using a network of over two million tree-ring observations spanning North America and a space-for-time substitution methodology, we forecast climate impacts on future forest growth. We explored differing scenarios of increased water-use efficiency (WUE) due to CO2-fertilisation, which we simulated as increased effective precipitation. In our forecasts: (1) climate change negatively impacted forest growth rates in the interior west and positively impacted forest growth along the western, southeastern and northeastern coasts; (2) shifting climate sensitivities offset positive effects of warming on high-latitude forests, leaving no evidence for continued 'boreal greening'; and (3) it took a 72% WUE enhancement to compensate for continentally averaged growth declines under RCP 8.5. Our results highlight the importance of locally adapted forest management strategies to handle regional differences in growth responses to climate change.
Data from: Adaptation to local climate in a multi-trait space: evidence from silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) populations across a heterogeneous environment
Heterogeneous environments, such as mountainous landscapes, create spatially varying selection pressure that potentially affects several traits simultaneously across different life stages, yet little is known about the general patterns and drivers of adaptation in such complex settings. We studied silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) populations across Switzerland and characterized their mountainous landscape using downscaled historical climate data. We sampled 387 trees from 19 populations and genotyped them at 374 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to estimate their demographic distances. Seedling morphology, growth and phenology traits were recorded in a common garden, and a proxy for water use efficiency was estimated for adult trees. We tested whether populations have more strongly diverged at quantitative traits than expected based on genetic drift alone in a multi-trait framework, and identified potential environmental drivers of selection. We found two main responses to selection: (i) populations from warmer and more thermally stable locations have evolved towards a taller stature, and (ii) the growth timing of populations evolved towards two extreme strategies, "start early and grow slowly" or "start late and grow fast", driven by precipitation seasonality. Populations following the "start early and grow slowly" strategy had higher water use efficiency and came from inner Alpine valleys characterized by pronounced summer droughts. Our results suggest that contrasting adaptive life-history strategies exist in silver fir across different life stages (seedling to adult), and that some of the characterized populations may provide suitable seed sources for tree growth under future climatic conditions.
Data from: Fine-scale refuges can buffer demographic and genetic processes against short-term climatic variation and disturbance: a 22 year case study of an arboreal marsupial
Ecological disturbance and climate are key drivers of temporal dynamics in the demography and genetic diversity of natural populations. Microscale refuges are known to buffer species' persistence against environmental change, but the effects of such refuges on demographic and genetic patterns in response to short-term environmental variation are poorly understood. We quantified demographic and genetic responses of mountain brushtail possums (Trichosurus cunninghami) to rainfall variability (1992–2013) and to a major wildfire. We hypothesized that there would be underlying differences in demographic and genetic processes between an unburnt mesic refuge and a topographically exposed zone that was burnt in 2009. Fire caused a 2-year decrease in survival in the burnt zone, but the population grew after the fire due to immigration, leading to increased expected heterozygosity. We documented a fire-related behavioural shift, where the rate of movement by individuals in the unburnt refuge to the burnt zone decreased after fire. Irrespective of the fire, there were long-term differences in demographic and genetic parameters between the mesic/unburnt refuge and the nonmesic/burnt zone. Survival was high and unaffected by rainfall in the refuge, but lower and rainfall-dependent in the nonmesic zone. Net movement of individuals was directional, from the mesic refuge to the nonmesic zone, suggesting fine-scale source–sink dynamics. There were higher expected heterozygosity (HE) and temporal genetic stability in the refuge, but lower HE and marked temporal genetic structure in the exposed habitat, consistent with reduced generational overlap caused by elevated mortality and immigration. Thus, fine-scale refuges can mediate the short-term demographic and genetic effects of climate and ecological disturbance.
Data from: Bison body size and climate change
The relationship between body size and temperature of mammals is poorly resolved, especially for large keystone species such as bison (Bison bison). Bison are well-represented in the fossil record across North America, which provides an opportunity to relate body size to climate within a species. We measured the length of a leg bone (calcaneal tuber, DstL) in 849 specimens from 60 localities that were dated by stratigraphy and 14C decay. We estimated body mass (M) as: M = (DstL/11.49) 3. Average annual temperature was estimated from δ18O values in the ice cores from Greenland. Calcaneal tuber length of Bison declined over the last 40,000 years, that is, average body mass was 37% larger (910 ± 50 kg) than today (665 ± 21 kg). Average annual temperature has warmed by 6°C since the Last Glacial Maximum (~24-18 kya) and is predicted to further increase by 4°C by the end of the 21st century. If body size continues to linearly respond to global temperature, Bison body mass will likely decline by an additional 46%, to 357 ± 54 kg, with an increase of 4°C globally. The rate of mass loss is 41 ± 10 kg per °C increase of global temperature. Changes in body size of Bison may be a result of migration, disease, or human harvest but those effects are likely to be local and short-term and not likely to persist over the long-time-scale of the fossil record. The strong correspondence between body size of bison and air temperature is more likely the result of persistent effects on the ability to grow and the consequences of sustaining a large body mass in a warming environment. Continuing rises in global temperature will likely depress body sizes of bison, and perhaps other large grazers, without human intervention.
Data from: Climate change may drive cave spiders to extinction
Subterranean ecosystems present ideal opportunities to study mechanisms underlying responses to changes in climate because species within them are often adapted to a largely constant temperature. We have characterized the thermal conditions of caves in the Western Alps, and related these hypogean climate data to the occurrence of Troglohyphantes spiders (Araneae, Linyphiidae). Our data indicated that present distributions reflect Pleistocene glaciation events and also pointed to specific responses as a consequence of changes in temperature. Constant temperatures recorded inside caves provide an approximation of the mean annual temperature outside, thus we extended the results to a regional scale. We used ecological niche modeling to predict habitat suitability both in the Pleistocene and under future global warming scenarios. These analyses pointed toward a future decline in habitat suitability for subterranean spiders and the potential extinction of the most restricted endemic species. When compared with other species that live in confined habitats such as islands and mountains, we expect cave species to be as much, if not more, vulnerable to climate change.
Data from: Incubation under climate warming affects learning ability and survival in hatchling lizards
Despite compelling evidence for substantial individual differences in cognitive performance, it is unclear whether cognitive ability influences fitness of wild animals. In many animals, environmental stressors experienced in utero can produce substantial variation in the cognitive abilities of offspring. In reptiles, incubation temperatures experienced by embryos can influence hatchling brain function and learning ability. Under climate warming, the eggs of some lizard species may experience higher temperatures, which could affect the cognitive abilities of hatchlings. Whether such changes in cognitive abilities influence the survival of hatchlings is unknown. To determine whether incubation-induced changes in spatial learning ability affect hatchling survival, we incubated velvet gecko, Amalosia lesueurii, eggs using two fluctuating temperature regimes to mimic current (cold) versus future (hot) nest temperatures. We measured the spatial learning ability of hatchlings from each treatment, and released individually marked animals at two field sites in southeastern Australia. Hatchlings from hot-incubated eggs were slower learners than hatchlings from cold-incubated eggs. Survival analyses revealed that hatchlings with higher learning scores had higher survival than hatchlings with poor learning scores. Our results show that incubation temperature affects spatial learning ability in hatchling lizards, and that such changes can influence the survival of hatchlings in the wild.
Data from: Spatial and temporal aridity gradients provide poor proxies for plant-plant interactions under climate change: a large-scale experiment
1. Plant-plant interactions may critically modify the impact of climate change on plant communities. However, the magnitude and even direction of potential future interactions remains highly debated, especially for water limited ecosystems. Predictions range from increasing facilitation to increasing competition with future aridification. 2. The different methodologies used for assessing plant-plant interactions under changing environmental conditions may affect the outcome but they are not equally represented in the literature. Mechanistic experimental manipulations are rare compared to correlative approaches that infer future patterns from current observations along spatial climatic gradients. 3. Here, we utilize a unique climatic gradient in combination with a large-scale, long-term experiment to test whether predictions about plant-plant interactions yield similar results when using experimental manipulations, spatial gradients or temporal variation. We assessed shrub-annual interactions in three different sites along a natural rainfall gradient (spatial) during 9 years of varying rainfall (temporal) and 8 years of dry and wet manipulations of ambient rainfall (experimental) that closely mimicked regional climate scenarios. 4. The results were fundamentally different among all three approaches. Experimental water manipulations hardly altered shrub effects on annual plant communities for the assessed fitness parameters biomass and survival. Along the spatial gradient, shrub effects shifted from clearly negative to mildly facilitative towards drier sites, whereas temporal variation showed the opposite trend: more negative shrub effects in drier years. 5. Based on our experimental approach, we conclude that shrub-annual interaction will remain similar under climate change. In contrast, the commonly applied space-for time approach based on spatial gradients would have suggested increasing facilitative effects with climate change. We discuss potential mechanisms governing the differences among the three approaches. 6. Our study highlights the critical importance of long-term experimental manipulations for evaluating climate change impacts. Correlative approaches, e.g. along spatial or temporal gradients, may be misleading and overestimate the response of plant-plant interactions to climate change.
Data from: Population dynamics of a northern-adapted mammal: disentangling the influence of predation and climate change
Community structure and interspecific interactions are particularly vulnerable to rapidly changing climatic regimes. Recent changes in both climate and vertebrate community assemblages have created a unique opportunity to examine the impacts of two dynamic forces on population regulation. We examined the effects of warming winter conditions and the reestablishment of a previously extirpated predator, the fisher (Martes pennanti), on regulatory mechanisms in a northern-adapted mammal, the porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum), along their southern range boundary. Using a long-term (17-year) capture–recapture data set, we (1) quantified the impacts of climate change and increased fisher predation on the survival of adult porcupines at their regional southern terminus, (2) assessed recruitment (via both adult fecundity and juvenile survival) of porcupines, and (3) modeled the relative importance of predation and winter conditions on the demography and population growth rate (λ). Severe winters and abundant predators interacted synergistically to reduce adult survivorship by as much as 44%, while expanding predator populations led to near reproductive failure among porcupines. Increasing predatory pressure, disruptions in this community module, and more frequent extreme winter weather events led to predicted extirpation within 50 years, whereas in the absence of predators, the population was viable. Our results provide a mechanistic understanding behind distributional shifts resulting from climate change and may be broadly relevant for predicting future distributional shifts in other northern-adapted mammalian species.
Data from: Trophic sensitivity of invasive predator and native prey interactions: integrating environmental context and climate change
Climate change is predicted to intensify the impacts of invasive species by enhancing their performance relative to their native counterparts. However, few studies have compared the performance of invasive predators and native prey, despite the fact that non-native predators are well known to disrupt native communities. The 'trophic sensitivity hypothesis' suggests that predators are less tolerant of increasing environmental stress than their prey, whereas the 'tolerant invaders hypothesis' suggests that invaders are more tolerant than native species due to selection during the introduction process. It is therefore unclear how invasive predators will respond to increasing climate stressors. We coupled physiological measurements (thermal tolerance, thermal optima, salinity tolerance, predation rate) with environmental time-series data to assess the effects of warming and extreme low salinity events on non-native predators (gastropods) and native prey (oysters) from a coastal ecosystem. In general support of the trophic sensitivity hypothesis, we found that both non-native predators exhibited lower thermal optima relative to native prey, lower salinity tolerance and one predator was less tolerant of warming. However, because warming tolerance was extremely high (i.e. habitat temperature is 7·9–21 °C below thermal tolerance), near-term warming may first increase predator performance (consumption and growth rates), with negative effects on prey. Low salinity will likely produce heterogeneous effects on predator–prey interactions due to varying watershed sizes among estuaries that control the duration of low salinity events. The trophic sensitivity hypothesis may be a useful framework for understanding community responses to extreme climate change, which portends a decoupling of predator–prey interactions. However, we conclude that this hypothesis must be evaluated in environmental context and that coupling physiological metrics with in situ environmental data offers the best predictive power of near-term climate change impacts on invaded communities. Within our study system, warming is likely to intensify the impacts of both invasive predators, which may greatly reduce the abundance of the native oyster, a species of conservation and restoration focus.
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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.