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

The Theory of Island Biogeography

Statistical method for testing the neutral mutation hypothesis by DNA polymorphism.

Causal attribution of recent biological trends to climate change is complicated because non-climatic influences dominate local, short-term biological changes. Any underlying signal from climate change is likely to be revealed by analyses that seek systematic trends across diverse species and geographic regions; however, debates within the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reveal several definitions of a 'systematic trend'. Here, we explore these differences, apply diverse analyses to more than 1,700 species, and show that recent biological trends match climate change predictions. Global meta-analyses documented significant range shifts averaging 6.1 km per decade towards the poles (or metres per decade upward), and significant mean advancement of spring events by 2.3 days per decade. We define a diagnostic fingerprint of temporal and spatial 'sign-switching' responses uniquely predicted by twentieth century climate trends. Among appropriate long-term/large-scale/multi-species data sets, this diagnostic fingerprint was found for 279 species. This suite of analyses generates 'very high confidence' (as laid down by the IPCC) that climate change is already affecting living systems.

/pdf/a-globally-coherent-fingerprint-of-climate-change-impacts-5duzh6vc6b.pdf

A globally coherent fingerprint of climate change impacts across natural systems

There is now ample evidence of the ecological impacts of recent climate change, from polar terrestrial to tropical marine environments. The responses of both flora and fauna span an array of ecosystems and organizational hierarchies, from the species to the community levels. Despite continued uncertainty as to community and ecosystem trajectories under global change, our review exposes a coherent pattern of ecological change across systems. Although we are only at an early stage in the projected trends of global warming, ecological responses to recent climate change are already clearly visible.

/pdf/ecological-responses-to-recent-climate-change-5dddm9xeiv.pdf

Ecological responses to recent climate change.

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

https://www.fws.gov/southwest/es/documents/R2ES/LitCited/LPC_2012/Parmesan_2006.pdf

Ecological and Evolutionary Responses to Recent Climate Change

At first sight, wave-beaten cliffs and sheltered estuarine mudflats do not seem to have much in common. Indeed, the physical nature of these shores is so different that they have to be investigated using quite different techniques — thereby encouraging researchers to become specialist rocky shore or sandy beach or mudflat ecologists. Yet these habitats have common environmental and ecological features that enable us to group them together as ‘the shore’. In this chapter we argue that rocky cliffs and estuarine mudflats are only extremes of a spectrum of habitat and community types. If we look hard enough, we can find the intermediates. To put it more formally, each of these shore types is a point within a field of continuously varying and intersecting environmental gradients. This view of shores is best appreciated by considering the nature of these environmental gradients. A large number of ecological gradients may be associated with the shore, but it is possible to understand the physical and biological properties of most shores by focusing on a few major ones and the interactions between them. Once this framework is established, it is then possible to consider how both small-scale (e.g. topographic) and large-scale (e.g. regional, geographic) factors modify shore patterns and processes.

The shore environment: major gradients

Overview and Synthesis

Rock-pools as nurseries for co-existing limpets: dynamics of limpet nursery grounds in SW Portugal

When first colonized from the sea, shores must have represented an inhospitable, although unexploited, resource Nevertheless, many species are now clearly able to cope with the physical problems of living in an environment characterized by sharp environmental gradients and fluctuating conditions As well as the essentially physical problems, there are a host of biological pressures facing intertidal organisms, particularly towards lower shore levels In this chapter we consider some of the features of shore plants and animals that allow them to survive these abiotic and biotic pressures at different points along the major vertical and horizontal gradients These features include many of the classic adaptations of shore organisms to the rigours of the physical environment as well as the coevolutionary interactions between consumers and resources which make up so much of the detailed natural history of the seashore First: we consider how the dispersal stages of shore organisms actually find a suitable place to live Then we go on to describe how, once settled on the shore, these organisms deal morphologically, behaviourally and, to a limited extent, physiologically with the main abiotic pressures For more on physiological adaptations see Newell (1979), Rankin and Davenport (1981) and Dring (1982)

Coping with the physical and biological environment

Time-lapse photography was used to study the timing and duration of foraging activity of a population of the pulmonate gastropod Onchidella celtica on an exposed rocky shore in Cornwall, UK. The pulmonates spent most of their time in their home crevice, emerging onto open rock only during some ebb tides to forage for food and find a mate. Total duration and speed of foraging was highly variable and did not generally conform to a triphasic pattern. The number foraging was also highly variable and was not correlated significantly with the spring/neap tide cycle or weather (air temperature above 12°C, air pressure, solar radiation, precipitation, relative humidity and wind speed). There was a significant negative correlation between foraging and surf height. Although the pulmonates foraged during all hours of the day/night cycle, foraging activity tended to be highest during the afternoon and evening.

Stephen J. Hawkins

Papers

The shore environment: major gradients

Overview and Synthesis

Rock-pools as nurseries for co-existing limpets: dynamics of limpet nursery grounds in SW Portugal

Coping with the physical and biological environment

On the timing and duration of foraging in Onchidella celtica