Dataset Information

Synchronous interhemispheric Holocene climate trends in the tropical Andes.

ABSTRACT: Holocene variations of tropical moisture balance have been ascribed to orbitally forced changes in solar insolation. If this model is correct, millennial-scale climate evolution should be antiphased between the northern and southern hemispheres, producing humid intervals in one hemisphere matched to aridity in the other. Here we show that Holocene climate trends were largely synchronous and in the same direction in the northern and southern hemisphere outer-tropical Andes, providing little support for the dominant role of insolation forcing in these regions. Today, sea-surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean modulate rainfall variability in the outer tropical Andes of both hemispheres, and we suggest that this mechanism was pervasive throughout the Holocene. Our findings imply that oceanic forcing plays a larger role in regional South American climate than previously suspected, and that Pacific sea-surface temperatures have the capacity to induce abrupt and sustained shifts in Andean climate.

SUBMITTER: Polissar PJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3767565 | biostudies-other | 2013 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Synchronous interhemispheric Holocene climate trends in the tropical Andes.

Polissar Pratigya J PJ Abbott Mark B MB Wolfe Alexander P AP Vuille Mathias M Bezada Maximiliano M

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20130819 36

Holocene variations of tropical moisture balance have been ascribed to orbitally forced changes in solar insolation. If this model is correct, millennial-scale climate evolution should be antiphased between the northern and southern hemispheres, producing humid intervals in one hemisphere matched to aridity in the other. Here we show that Holocene climate trends were largely synchronous and in the same direction in the northern and southern hemisphere outer-tropical Andes, providing little suppo ...[more]

PMID: 23959896

Similar Datasets

Project description:While the impacts of climate change on individual species and communities have been well documented there is little evidence on climate-mediated changes for entire ecosystems. Pristine alpine environments can provide unique insights into natural, physical and ecological response to climate change yet broad scale and long-term studies on these potential 'ecosystem sentinels' are scarce. We addressed this issue by examining cover changes of 1689 high-elevation wetlands (temporarily or perennial water-saturated grounds) in the Bolivian Cordillera Real, a region that has experienced significant warming and glacier melting over the last 30 years. We combined high spatial resolution satellite images from PLEIADES with the long-term images archive from LANDSAT to 1) examine environmental factors (e.g., glacier cover, wetland and watershed size) that affected wetland cover changes, and 2) identify wetlands' features that affect their vulnerability (using habitat drying as a proxy) in the face of climate change. Over the (1984-2011) period, our data showed an increasing trend in the mean wetland total area and number, mainly related to the appearance of wet grassland patches during the wetter years. Wetland cover also showed high inter-annual variability and their area for a given year was positively correlated to precipitation intensities in the three months prior to the image date. Also, round wetlands located in highly glacierized catchments were less prone to drying, while relatively small wetlands with irregularly shaped contours suffered the highest rates of drying over the last three decades. High Andean wetlands can therefore be considered as ecosystem sentinels for climate change, as they seem sensitive to glacier melting. Beyond the specific focus of this study, our work illustrates how satellite-based monitoring of ecosystem sentinels can help filling the lack of information on the ecological consequences of current and changing climate conditions, a common and crucial issue especially in less-developed countries.

Project description:Although biodiversity gradients have been widely documented, the factors governing broad-scale patterns in species richness are still a source of intense debate and interest in ecology, evolution, and conservation biology. Here, we tested whether spatial hypotheses (species-area effect, topographic heterogeneity, mid-domain null model, and latitudinal effect) explain the pattern of diversity observed along the altitudinal gradient of Andean rain frogs of the genus Pristimantis. We compiled a gamma-diversity database of 378 species of Pristimantis from the tropical Andes, specifically from Colombia to Bolivia, using records collected above 500 m.a.s.l. Analyses were performed at three spatial levels: Tropical Andes as a whole, split in its two main domains (Northern and Central Andes), and split in its 11 main mountain ranges. Species richness, area, and topographic heterogeneity were calculated for each 500-m-width elevational band. Spatial hypotheses were tested using linear regression models. We examined the fit of the observed diversity to the mid-domain hypothesis using randomizations. The species richness of Pristimantis showed a hump-shaped pattern across most of the altitudinal gradients of the Tropical Andes. There was high variability in the relationship between area and species richness along the Tropical Andes. Correcting for area effects had little impact in the shape of the empirical pattern of biodiversity curves. Mid-domain models produced similar gradients in species richness relative to empirical gradients, but the fit varied among mountain ranges. The effect of topographic heterogeneity on species richness varied among mountain ranges. There was a significant negative relationship between latitude and species richness. Our findings suggest that spatial processes partially explain the richness patterns of Pristimantis frogs along the Tropical Andes. Explaining the current patterns of biodiversity in this hot spot may require further studies on other possible underlying mechanisms (e.g., historical, biotic, or climatic hypotheses) to elucidate the factors that limit the ranges of species along this elevational gradient.

Dataset Information

Synchronous interhemispheric Holocene climate trends in the tropical Andes.

Publications

Synchronous interhemispheric Holocene climate trends in the tropical Andes.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure