Impacts of climate warming on terrestrial ectotherms across latitude.
Curtis Deutsch,Joshua J. Tewksbury,Raymond B. Huey,Kimberly S. Sheldon,Cameron K. Ghalambor,David C. Haak,Paul R. Martin,Paul R. Martin +7 more
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TLDR
The results show that warming in the tropics, although relatively small in magnitude, is likely to have the most deleterious consequences because tropical insects are relatively sensitive to temperature change and are currently living very close to their optimal temperature, so that warming may even enhance their fitness.Abstract:
The impact of anthropogenic climate change on terrestrial organisms is often predicted to increase with latitude, in parallel with the rate of warming. Yet the biological impact of rising temperatures also depends on the physiological sensitivity of organisms to temperature change. We integrate empirical fitness curves describing the thermal tolerance of terrestrial insects from around the world with the projected geographic distribution of climate change for the next century to estimate the direct impact of warming on insect fitness across latitude. The results show that warming in the tropics, although relatively small in magnitude, is likely to have the most deleterious consequences because tropical insects are relatively sensitive to temperature change and are currently living very close to their optimal temperature. In contrast, species at higher latitudes have broader thermal tolerance and are living in climates that are currently cooler than their physiological optima, so that warming may even enhance their fitness. Available thermal tolerance data for several vertebrate taxa exhibit similar patterns, suggesting that these results are general for terrestrial ectotherms. Our analyses imply that, in the absence of ameliorating factors such as migration and adaptation, the greatest extinction risks from global warming may be in the tropics, where biological diversity is also greatest.read more
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Competitive exclusion along climate gradients: energy efficiency influences the distribution of two salmonid fishes
Anders Gravbrøt Finstad,Torbjørn Forseth,Bror Jonsson,Edwige Bellier,Trygve Hesthagen,Arne Johan Jensen,Dag O. Hessen,Anders Foldvik +7 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors tested the importance of thermal adaptations and energy efficiency in relation to the geographical distribution of two competing freshwater salmonid fish species, including brown trout and Arctic char.
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Testing the climate variability hypothesis in thermal tolerance limits of tropical and temperate tadpoles
Luis Miguel Gutiérrez-Pesquera,Miguel Tejedo,Miguel Á. Olalla-Tárraga,Helder Duarte,Alfredo G. Nicieza,Mirco Solé +5 more
TL;DR: At the global scale, both macro- and microenvironment thermal information were reliable predictors of critical thermal limits and thermal tolerance range, but thermal limits were best predicted by temperatures of the micro-habitat at the regional level, thus suggesting that physiological thermal boundaries may be governed by thermal selection.
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Within‐generation variation of critical thermal limits in adult Mediterranean and Natal fruit flies Ceratitis capitata and Ceratitis rosa: thermal history affects short‐term responses to temperature
TL;DR: The results suggest critical thermal limits of adult fruit flies are moderated by temperature variation at both short and long time scales and may comprise both reversible and irreversible components.
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Climate change impacts in Latin America and the Caribbean and their implications for development
Christopher P. O. Reyer,Sophie Adams,Torsten Albrecht,Florent Baarsch,Alice Boit,Nella Canales Trujillo,Matti Cartsburg,Dim Coumou,Alexander Eden,Erick C.M. Fernandes,Fanny Langerwisch,Rachel Marcus,Matthias Mengel,Daniel Mira-Salama,Mahé Perette,Paola Pereznieto,Anja Rammig,Anja Rammig,Julia Reinhardt,Alexander Robinson,Alexander Robinson,Alexander Robinson,Marcia Rocha,Boris Sakschewski,Michiel Schaeffer,Carl-Friedrich Schleussner,Olivia Serdeczny,Kirsten Thonicke +27 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors synthesize what is known about the physical and biophysical impacts of climate change and their consequences for societies and development under different levels of global warming in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).
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The impact of seasonality in temperature on thermal tolerance and elevational range size
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used phylogenetically matched beetles from locations spanning 60 degrees of latitude to explore the links between seasonality, physiology and elevational range, and found that thermal tolerance increased with seasonality across all beetle groups, but realized seasonality was a better predictor of thermal tolerance than was annual seasonality.
References
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