Moving forward in global‐change ecology: capitalizing on natural variability |
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Authors: | Inés Ibáñez Elise S Gornish Lauren Buckley Diane M Debinski Jessica Hellmann Brian Helmuth Janneke HilleRisLambers Andrew M Latimer Abraham J Miller‐Rushing Maria Uriarte |
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Institution: | 1. School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan, , Ann Arbor, Michigan;2. Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, , Tallahassee, Florida;3. Biology Department, University of North Carolina, , Chapel Hill, North Carolina;4. Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, , Ames, Iowa;5. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, , Notre Dame, Indiana;6. Environment and Sustainability Program and Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, , Columbia, South Carolina;7. Biology Department, University of Washington, , Seattle, Washington;8. Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis, , Davis, California;9. National Park Service, Schoodic Education and Research Center and Acadia National Park, , Bar Harbor, Maine;10. Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, , New York, New York |
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Abstract: | Natural resources managers are being asked to follow practices that accommodate for the impact of climate change on the ecosystems they manage, while global‐ecosystems modelers aim to forecast future responses under different climate scenarios. However, the lack of scientific knowledge about short‐term ecosystem responses to climate change has made it difficult to define set conservation practices or to realistically inform ecosystem models. Until recently, the main goal for ecologists was to study the composition and structure of communities and their implications for ecosystem function, but due to the probable magnitude and irreversibility of climate‐change effects (species extinctions and loss of ecosystem function), a shorter term focus on responses of ecosystems to climate change is needed. We highlight several underutilized approaches for studying the ecological consequences of climate change that capitalize on the natural variability of the climate system at different temporal and spatial scales. For example, studying organismal responses to extreme climatic events can inform about the resilience of populations to global warming and contribute to the assessment of local extinctions. Translocation experiments and gene expression are particular useful to quantitate a species' acclimation potential to global warming. And studies along environmental gradients can guide habitat restoration and protection programs by identifying vulnerable species and sites. These approaches identify the processes and mechanisms underlying species acclimation to changing conditions, combine different analytical approaches, and can be used to improve forecasts of the short‐term impacts of climate change and thus inform conservation practices and ecosystem models in a meaningful way. |
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Keywords: | Climate change environmental gradients forecasting range shifts translocation |
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