Dataset Information

Quantifying climate sensitivity and climate-driven change in North American amphibian communities.

ABSTRACT: Changing climate will impact species' ranges only when environmental variability directly impacts the demography of local populations. However, measurement of demographic responses to climate change has largely been limited to single species and locations. Here we show that amphibian communities are responsive to climatic variability, using >500,000 time-series observations for 81 species across 86 North American study areas. The effect of climate on local colonization and persistence probabilities varies among eco-regions and depends on local climate, species life-histories, and taxonomic classification. We found that local species richness is most sensitive to changes in water availability during breeding and changes in winter conditions. Based on the relationships we measure, recent changes in climate cannot explain why local species richness of North American amphibians has rapidly declined. However, changing climate does explain why some populations are declining faster than others. Our results provide important insights into how amphibians respond to climate and a general framework for measuring climate impacts on species richness.

SUBMITTER: Miller DAW

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6156563 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Quantifying climate sensitivity and climate-driven change in North American amphibian communities.

Miller David A W DAW Grant Evan H Campbell EHC Muths Erin E Amburgey Staci M SM Adams Michael J MJ Joseph Maxwell B MB Waddle J Hardin JH Johnson Pieter T J PTJ Ryan Maureen E ME Schmidt Benedikt R BR Calhoun Daniel L DL Davis Courtney L CL Fisher Robert N RN Green David M DM Hossack Blake R BR Rittenhouse Tracy A G TAG Walls Susan C SC Bailey Larissa L LL Cruickshank Sam S SS Fellers Gary M GM Gorman Thomas A TA Haas Carola A CA Hughson Ward W Pilliod David S DS Price Steven J SJ Ray Andrew M AM Sadinski Walt W Saenz Daniel D Barichivich William J WJ Brand Adrianne A Brehme Cheryl S CS Dagit Rosi R Delaney Katy S KS Glorioso Brad M BM Kats Lee B LB Kleeman Patrick M PM Pearl Christopher A CA Rochester Carlton J CJ Riley Seth P D SPD Roth Mark M Sigafus Brent H BH

Nature communications 20180925 1

Changing climate will impact species' ranges only when environmental variability directly impacts the demography of local populations. However, measurement of demographic responses to climate change has largely been limited to single species and locations. Here we show that amphibian communities are responsive to climatic variability, using >500,000 time-series observations for 81 species across 86 North American study areas. The effect of climate on local colonization and persistence probabilit ...[more]

PMID: 30254220

Similar Datasets

Project description:We review science-based adaptation strategies for western North American (wNA) forests that include restoring active fire regimes and fostering resilient structure and composition of forested landscapes. As part of the review, we address common questions associated with climate adaptation and realignment treatments that run counter to a broad consensus in the literature. These include the following: (1) Are the effects of fire exclusion overstated? If so, are treatments unwarranted and even counterproductive? (2) Is forest thinning alone sufficient to mitigate wildfire hazard? (3) Can forest thinning and prescribed burning solve the problem? (4) Should active forest management, including forest thinning, be concentrated in the wildland urban interface (WUI)? (5) Can wildfires on their own do the work of fuel treatments? (6) Is the primary objective of fuel reduction treatments to assist in future firefighting response and containment? (7) Do fuel treatments work under extreme fire weather? (8) Is the scale of the problem too great? Can we ever catch up? (9) Will planting more trees mitigate climate change in wNA forests? And (10) is post-fire management needed or even ecologically justified? Based on our review of the scientific evidence, a range of proactive management actions are justified and necessary to keep pace with changing climatic and wildfire regimes and declining forest heterogeneity after severe wildfires. Science-based adaptation options include the use of managed wildfire, prescribed burning, and coupled mechanical thinning and prescribed burning as is consistent with land management allocations and forest conditions. Although some current models of fire management in wNA are averse to short-term risks and uncertainties, the long-term environmental, social, and cultural consequences of wildfire management primarily grounded in fire suppression are well documented, highlighting an urgency to invest in intentional forest management and restoration of active fire regimes.

Dataset Information

Quantifying climate sensitivity and climate-driven change in North American amphibian communities.

Publications

Quantifying climate sensitivity and climate-driven change in North American amphibian communities.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets