Impacts of climate warming and habitat loss on extinctions at species' low-latitude range boundaries

Polewards expansions of species' distributions have been attributed to climate warming, but evidence for climate‐driven local extinctions at warm (low latitude/elevation) boundaries is equivocal. We surveyed the four species of butterflies that reach their southern limits in Britain. We visited 421 sites where the species had been recorded previously to determine whether recent extinctions were primarily due to climate or habitat changes. Coenonympha tullia had become extinct at 52% of study sites and all losses were associated with habitat degradation. Aricia artaxerxes was extinct from 50% of sites, with approximately one‐third to half of extinctions associated with climate‐related factors and the remainder with habitat loss. For Erebia aethiops (extinct from 24% of sites), approximately a quarter of the extinctions were associated with habitat and three‐quarters with climate. For Erebia epiphron, extinctions (37% of sites) were attributed mainly to climate with almost no habitat effects. For the three species affected by climate, range boundaries retracted 70–100 km northwards (A. artaxerxes, E. aethiops) and 130–150 m uphill (E. epiphron) in the sample of sites analysed. These shifts are consistent with estimated latitudinal and elevational temperature shifts of 88 km northwards and 98 m uphill over the 19‐year study period. These results suggest that the southern/warm range margins of some species are as sensitive to climate change as are northern/cool margins. Our data indicate that climate warming has been of comparable importance to habitat loss in driving local extinctions of northern species over the past few decades; future climate warming is likely to jeopardize the long‐term survival of many northern and mountain species.     

南海南部表层海水古温度估算与次表层海水特征变化

南海南部～2 MaBP以来的表层海水古温度估算表明,表层海水温度变化在更新世冰期旋回中波动比南海北部为小、保持比较温暖,但在长时间尺度上转换函数古水温仍然存在一定的变化趋势。转换函数古温度计算的低温时期并不与冰期相对应,表明南海南部具有独特的表层海洋演化特征,可能与次表层水体性质、上部水体结构等密切相关。过去2 MaBP以来的浮游有孔虫组合演化表明,南海南部海水温跃层呈现由氧同位素MIS79期向～53期相对变浅,自MIS 53期向布容／松山(B／M)古地磁界线附近变深,然后,自布容／松山界线以来又相对变浅的演化过程。     

Overcoming the genetic compensation response of soybean florigens to improve adaptation and yield at low latitudes

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