Author
A. Townsend Peterson
Other affiliations: California Academy of Sciences, University of Chicago, Field Museum of Natural History ...read more
Bio: A. Townsend Peterson is an academic researcher from University of Kansas. The author has contributed to research in topics: Environmental niche modelling & Ecological niche. The author has an hindex of 91, co-authored 521 publications receiving 51524 citations. Previous affiliations of A. Townsend Peterson include California Academy of Sciences & University of Chicago.
Papers published on a yearly basis
Papers
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TL;DR: Climate change effects on African malaria vectors shift their distributional potential from west to east and south, which has implications for overall numbers of people exposed to these vector species.
Abstract: Background
Climates are changing rapidly, producing warm climate conditions globally not previously observed in modern history. Malaria is of great concern as a cause of human mortality and morbidity, particularly across Africa, thanks in large part to the presence there of a particularly competent suite of mosquito vector species.
102 citations
TL;DR: A question that has not received sufficient attention is the degree to which a species is tracking a single set of conditions year-round-as opposed to changing from one ecological regime to another.
Abstract: THE EVOLUTION OF avian migratory systems has been of intense interest to ornithologists (Gauthreaux 1982; Berthold 1988, 1993; Levey and Stiles 1992; Rappole 1995; Chesser and Levey 1998). The consensus is that a sedentary ancestor began to move seasonally, within an ancestral distribution, in response to some influence-either a push (e.g. poor conditions on the ancestral distribution) or a pull (e.g. better conditions elsewhere) -and that local tracking eventually extended to long-distance, predictable movements (Berthold 1993, Rappole 1995). One particularly well-developed hypothesis is that local movements of tropical bird species tracking variable or uncertain resources (either food or space for breeding) evolved into regular seasonal and longer distance movements. That line of thought, originally based on NearcticNeotropical migrants (Levey and Stiles 1992, Rappole 1995), has been partially supported in an independent system, the austral migrants in South America (Chesser and Levey 1998). New perspectives on the evolution of migration may prove useful (Zink 2002). A question that has not received sufficient attention is the degree to which a species is tracking a single set of conditions year-round-as opposed to changing from one ecological regime to another. Seasonal differences in habitat use by migratory birds are well known (see reviews in Keast and Morton 1980, Hagan and Johnston 1995).
99 citations
TL;DR: In this article, two species for which reintroduction programmes are in the planning stages in Mexico: California condor Gymnogyps califor-nianus and Mexican wolf Canis lupus baileyi.
Abstract: Species reintroduction programmes, in prior- itizing areas for reintroductions, have traditionally used tools that include measures of habitat suitability and evaluations of area requirements for viable populations. Here we add two tools to this approach: evaluation of ecological requirements of species and evaluation of future suitability for species facing changing climates. We demonstrate this approach with two species for which reintroduction programmes are in the planning stages in Mexico: California condor Gymnogyps califor- nianus and Mexican wolf Canis lupus baileyi. For the condor, we identify three areas clustered in the Sierra San Pedro Martir, Baja California; for the wolf, we identify a string of suitable sites along the Sierra Madre Occidental of western Mexico. We discuss the limita- tions of this approach, identifying ways in which the models illustrated could be made more realistic and directly useful to reintroduction programmes.
99 citations
TL;DR: It is found that climate-driven refugial dynamics interact with dynamic riverine barriers to produce a dominant pattern that links landscape dynamics with biotic diversification and explains the east-west diversity gradients across the Amazon.
Abstract: The Amazon is the primary source of Neotropical diversity and a nexus for discussions on processes that drive biotic diversification. Biogeographers have focused on the roles of rivers and Pleistocene climate change in explaining high rates of speciation. We combine phylogeographic and niche-based paleodistributional projections for 23 upland terra firme forest bird lineages from across the Amazon to derive a new model of regional biological diversification. We found that climate-driven refugial dynamics interact with dynamic riverine barriers to produce a dominant pattern: Older lineages in the wetter western and northern parts of the Amazon gave rise to lineages in the drier southern and eastern parts. This climate/drainage basin evolution interaction links landscape dynamics with biotic diversification and explains the east-west diversity gradients across the Amazon.
99 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a technique based on models of species' ecological niches and Pleistocene climate reconstructions is presented to reconstruct the Aphelocoma jays' distributional areas back through at least the most recent glaciation event.
Abstract: Understanding historical distributions of species and evolving lineages has been a topic of considerable interest, yet Methods used to date have not provided detailed, quantitative distributional hypotheses. Here, we present a technique based on models of species' ecological niches and Pleistocene climate reconstructions that provides such hypotheses, providing the example of reconstructions for the Aphelocoma jays. We demonstrate in general a greater degree than expected of stability in jay species' distributional areas back through at least the most recent glaciation event, and that existing patterns of genetic differentiation may date to before the Late Pleistocene glaciations. More generally, the method offers the potential for reconstructing historical distributions of species or lineages, and providing a detailed geographic framework for addressing many biogeographic and systematic questions.
96 citations
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TL;DR: Preface to the Princeton Landmarks in Biology Edition vii Preface xi Symbols used xiii 1.
Abstract: Preface to the Princeton Landmarks in Biology Edition vii Preface xi Symbols Used xiii 1. The Importance of Islands 3 2. Area and Number of Speicies 8 3. Further Explanations of the Area-Diversity Pattern 19 4. The Strategy of Colonization 68 5. Invasibility and the Variable Niche 94 6. Stepping Stones and Biotic Exchange 123 7. Evolutionary Changes Following Colonization 145 8. Prospect 181 Glossary 185 References 193 Index 201
14,171 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the use of the maximum entropy method (Maxent) for modeling species geographic distributions with presence-only data was introduced, which is a general-purpose machine learning method with a simple and precise mathematical formulation.
13,120 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: It is suggested that the natural selection against large insertion/deletion is so weak that a large amount of variation is maintained in a population.
11,521 citations
TL;DR: The Bayesian Evolutionary Analysis by Sampling Trees (BEAST) software package version 1.7 is presented, which implements a family of Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithms for Bayesian phylogenetic inference, divergence time dating, coalescent analysis, phylogeography and related molecular evolutionary analyses.
Abstract: Computational evolutionary biology, statistical phylogenetics and coalescent-based population genetics are becoming increasingly central to the analysis and understanding of molecular sequence data. We present the Bayesian Evolutionary Analysis by Sampling Trees (BEAST) software package version 1.7, which implements a family of Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithms for Bayesian phylogenetic inference, divergence time dating, coalescent analysis, phylogeography and related molecular evolutionary analyses. This package includes an enhanced graphical user interface program called Bayesian Evolutionary Analysis Utility (BEAUti) that enables access to advanced models for molecular sequence and phenotypic trait evolution that were previously available to developers only. The package also provides new tools for visualizing and summarizing multispecies coalescent and phylogeographic analyses. BEAUti and BEAST 1.7 are open source under the GNU lesser general public license and available at http://beast-mcmc.googlecode.com and http://beast.bio.ed.ac.uk
9,055 citations
TL;DR: Range-restricted species, particularly polar and mountaintop species, show severe range contractions and have been the first groups in which entire species have gone extinct due to recent climate change.
Abstract: Ecological changes in the phenology and distribution of plants and animals are occurring in all well-studied marine, freshwater, and terrestrial groups These observed changes are heavily biased in the directions predicted from global warming and have been linked to local or regional climate change through correlations between climate and biological variation, field and laboratory experiments, and physiological research Range-restricted species, particularly polar and mountaintop species, show severe range contractions and have been the first groups in which entire species have gone extinct due to recent climate change Tropical coral reefs and amphibians have been most negatively affected Predator-prey and plant-insect interactions have been disrupted when interacting species have responded differently to warming Evolutionary adaptations to warmer conditions have occurred in the interiors of species’ ranges, and resource use and dispersal have evolved rapidly at expanding range margins Observed genetic shifts modulate local effects of climate change, but there is little evidence that they will mitigate negative effects at the species level
7,657 citations