Improving Conservation Outcomes with a New Paradigm for Understanding Species’ Fundamental and Realized Adaptive Capacity

Beever, Erik A.; O’Leary, John F.; Mengelt, Claudia; West, Jordan M.; Julius, Susan; Green, Nancy; Magness, Dawn R.; Petes, Laura E.; Stein, Bruce A.; Nicotra, Adrienne B.; Hellmann, Jessica J.; Robertson, Amanda; Staudinger, Michelle D.; Rosenberg, Andrew A.; Babij, Eleanora; Brennan, Jean; Schuurman, Gregor W.; Hofmann, Gretchen E.

doi:10.1111/conl.12190

Cited by 146 publications

(146 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…In ecology adaptive capacity is often used in a population context (Nicotra et al 2015, Beever et al 2016), but can also emphasize the constant adjustment of ecosystem properties to changing environmental conditions (Carpenter et al 2001, Smit andWandel 2006).…”

Section: Adaptive Capacitymentioning

confidence: 99%

A quantitative framework for assessing ecological resilience

Baho¹,

Allen²,

Garmestani³

et al. 2017

E&S

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ABSTRACT. Quantitative approaches to measure and assess resilience are needed to bridge gaps between science, policy, and management. In this paper, we suggest a quantitative framework for assessing ecological resilience. Ecological resilience as an emergent ecosystem phenomenon can be decomposed into complementary attributes (scales, adaptive capacity, thresholds, and alternative regimes) that embrace the complexity inherent to ecosystems. Quantifying these attributes simultaneously provides opportunities to move from the assessment of specific resilience within an ecosystem toward a broader measurement of its general resilience. We provide a framework that is based on reiterative testing and recalibration of hypotheses that assess complementary attributes of ecological resilience. By implementing the framework in adaptive approaches to management, inference, and modeling, key uncertainties can be reduced incrementally over time and learning about the general resilience of dynamic ecosystems maximized. Such improvements are needed because uncertainty about global environmental change impacts and their effects on resilience is high. Improved resilience assessments will ultimately facilitate an optimized use of limited resources for management.

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Section: Adaptive Capacitymentioning

confidence: 99%

A quantitative framework for assessing ecological resilience

Baho¹,

Allen²,

Garmestani³

et al. 2017

E&S

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show abstract

“…On an immediate basis, physiological processes allow individuals to maintain homeostasis in the face of rapid changes in external conditions (Sapolsky et al 2000). Departures from typical ambient conditions are expected to produce measurable physiological responses, suggesting that analyses of physiological parameters can be used to assess the short-term impacts of environmental changes on free-living organisms (Pacifici et al 2015, Seebacher et al 2015, Aubin et al 2016, Beever et al 2016. Departures from typical ambient conditions are expected to produce measurable physiological responses, suggesting that analyses of physiological parameters can be used to assess the short-term impacts of environmental changes on free-living organisms (Pacifici et al 2015, Seebacher et al 2015, Aubin et al 2016, Beever et al 2016.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Glucocorticoid–environment relationships align with responses to environmental change in two co‐occurring congeners

Hammond

Palme

Lacey

2018

Ecological Applications

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As more species undergo range shifts in response to climate change, it is increasingly important to understand the factors that determine an organism's realized niche. Physiological limits imposed by abiotic factors constrain the distributions of many species. Because glucocorticoids are essential to the maintenance of physiological homeostasis, identifying glucocorticoid-environment relationships may generate critical insights into both limits on species distributions and potential responses to environmental change. We explored relationships between variability in baseline glucocorticoids and sensitivity to environmental conditions in two chipmunk species characterized by divergent patterns of spatial, genetic, and morphological change over the past century. Specifically, we investigated whether the alpine chipmunk (Tamias alpinus), which has undergone pronounced changes, displays greater glucocorticoid sensitivity to environmental parameters than the lodgepole chipmunk (T. speciosus), which has exhibited little change over the same interval. From 2013 to 2015, we collected environmental data and fecal glucocorticoid metabolite (FGM) samples from these species. Using generalized linear mixed models and a model averaging approach, we examined the impacts of environmental and individual phenotypic parameters on FGMs. We found pronounced interspecific differences, with environmental parameters being better predictors of FGMs in T. alpinus. FGMs in this species were particularly elevated in less climatically suitable habitats and in areas with higher maximum daily temperatures. Individual phenotypic traits were not predictive of FGMs in T. alpinus, although they were highly predictive for T. speciosus. Collectively, these findings support the hypothesis that T. alpinus is more sensitive to environmental change. More generally, our results suggest that both phenotypic attributes and environmental conditions contribute to FGM responses but that the relative contributions of these factors differ among taxa, including among closely related species. Finally, our analyses underscore the value of glucocorticoids as bioindicators of sensitivity to environmental change in species for which the factors affecting stress physiology have been assessed.

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“…Recent paradigms analysing species adaptive capacities emphasise the importance of identifying a species' vulnerability to climate change, but also the risk to its habitat (Beever et al, 2016). Our study highlights the importance of examining threats to watershedscale hydrologic drivers of ecological communities to better understand the potential impacts of future climates on high-mountain biota and communities.…”

Section: Hypothesismentioning

confidence: 84%

Glacial loss and its effect on riparian vegetation of alpine streams

2018

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Rising global temperature is expected to increase alpine glacier mass loss with cascading effects on alpine habitats and biota. Currently, there is limited information on the effects of climate change on alpine riparian vegetation including quantitative assessments of geophysical habitat context. We measured geomorphic conditions and riparian vegetation composition of alpine streams across a chronosequence of sites supported hydrologically by glaciers, permanent snowfields (PS) and seasonal snowfields (SS) in Glacier National Park (GNP), Montana, USA. Responses in the system to possible climate‐driven shifts in hydrologic regime were identified using multivariate analyses. Glacier‐fed streams had higher discharge and stream power and lower substrate stability than streams fed by PS and SS. Streams fed by PS supported a higher number of species than other stream types. Glacier‐fed streams were characterised by higher abundance of disturbance‐adapted shrub species than PS and SS. By applying projections from climate models that forecast total glacial loss in GNP by 2030 to our data, we predict that stream geophysical conditions will shift, resulting in a loss of physical habitat for shrub species, an increase in habitat for herbaceous species, and ultimately a homogenisation of riparian communities in the alpine zone. Our study identifies glaciers as drivers of alpine riverine ecosystems and highlights the importance of examining geophysical habitat linked to hydrologic regimes and glaciers to better understand the impacts to biota under future climate scenarios. We provide a framework for relating fluvial biological and hydrogeomorphic processes in the context of alpine glacial recession.

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Improving Conservation Outcomes with a New Paradigm for Understanding Species’ Fundamental and Realized Adaptive Capacity

Cited by 146 publications

References 34 publications

A quantitative framework for assessing ecological resilience

A quantitative framework for assessing ecological resilience

Glucocorticoid–environment relationships align with responses to environmental change in two co‐occurring congeners

Glacial loss and its effect on riparian vegetation of alpine streams

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