Most ‘global’ reviews of species’ responses to climate change are not truly global

Feeley, Kenneth J.; Stroud, James T.; Perez, Timothy M.

doi:10.1111/ddi.12517

Cited by 89 publications

(89 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…2013, Morrone 2013. Furthermore, the delineation of the Earth's ecosystems is integral to effective conservation planning (Lomolino et al 2010, Ladle and Whittaker 2011, Feeley et al 2017. Surprisingly, the criteria used to delineate the tropics from the non-tropics are usually not well-defined (but see Corlett 2013) and can differ greatly between studies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Where on Earth are the “tropics”?

Feeley¹,

Stroud²

2018

Frontiers of Biogeography

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Abstract. The tropics have long been a focal point of interest in ecology and evolutionary biology -but where actually are the tropics? Classically, the tropics have been defined as all areas lying between 23.4° North and South as these zones receive direct overhead solar radiation at some point during the year. However, a suite of different environmental and climatic characteristics have also been employed to classify regions as tropical or not. The aims of this paper are to 1) briefly review some of the different criteria commonly used to define the tropics, 2) map the extent and distribution of tropical land areas according to these different criteria, and 3) asses the concordance between these criteria and a sample of recent "tropical" studies. More specifically, we review eight criteria that are frequently used (implicitly or explicitly) to define the tropics. We then map the location and extent of land areas that are "definitely tropical" (i.e., the core tropics) and areas that are "tropical by most definitions". Finally, we examine how the different classifications apply to tropical research through an analysis of the study locations of >200 recent tropical biology articles. Depending on the definition, the extent of the terrestrial tropics ranges from 23 million to 66 million km 2 -a nearly threefold difference. Likewise, the classification of many areas as being tropical vs. non-tropical depends on the specific criterion employed. Of the tropical studies reviewed here, only 44% were based on data collected from the core tropics, and 12% of tropical studies were based on data collected from sites outside of the geographic tropics but with tropical climates. Many different criteria are used to classify areas as tropical vs. non-tropical, leading to inconsistencies when estimating the extent of tropical areas and variation in the classification of ecosystems and species as being tropical vs. non-tropical.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Where on Earth are the “tropics”?

Feeley¹,

Stroud²

2018

Frontiers of Biogeography

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“…, Feeley et al . ) and yet contain the majority of the world's species, many of which are extinction prone due to their high specialization (Belmaker et al . , Şekercioğlu ) and low dispersal ability (Moore et al .…”

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confidence: 99%

Elevational changes in the avian community of a Mesoamerican cloud forest park

et al. 2018

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Harboring many range‐restricted and specialized species, high elevation tropical cloud forests are diverse habitats represented in many protected areas. Despite this, many such areas receive little practical protection from deforestation and land conversion. Moreover, montane species may be more sensitive to climate change owing to various factors affecting community assembly across elevational gradients. Few studies have used annual monitoring to assess how biological communities in cloud forests may be shifting in response to habitat or climate change or assessed the efficacy of protected areas in buffering these effects. We analyzed avifaunal community trends in a 10‐yr dataset of constant‐effort bird point‐count data in a cloud forest national park in Honduras, Central America. We found that species richness and diversity increased at higher elevations, but decreased at lower elevations. Abundances of most dietary and forest‐dependency groups exhibited similar trends, and many key cloud forest species shifted upslope and/or increased in abundance. Taken together, our results suggest that the avian community is moving upslope and species composition is changing. Results for species richness and diversity were similar when only nondegraded transects were considered, suggesting the role of climate change as an important driver. At lower elevations, however, many species may be negatively affected by increased habitat degradation, favoring species with low forest dependency. Continued habitat conversion and climate change could push the cloud forest bird community further upslope, potentially resulting in increased competition, mortality, and even extirpation of some species. Increased protection is unlikely to mitigate the effects of climate change.

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“…) and to correct the temperate (northern hemisphere) bias of current climate change studies (Feeley et al . ). We have shown that even a simple assessment of observation uncertainty, undertaken by experienced field observers, can provide important information and be incorporated into and improve quantitative analyses of existing tropical phenology data.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…), most of the evidence is geographically and taxonomically biased toward temperate regions and vertebrates (Feeley et al . ). There is little data available to assess change in tropical plant phenology and, to date, few relevant published studies (but see Chapman et al .…”

Section: Improving Statistical Power In Analyses Of Tropical Phenologymentioning

confidence: 95%

Towards effective monitoring of tropical phenology: maximizing returns and reducing uncertainty in long‐term studies

et al. 2018

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Phenology is a key component of ecosystem function and is increasingly included in assessments of ecological change. We consider how existing, and emerging, tropical phenology monitoring programs can be made most effective by investigating major sources of noise in data collection at a long‐term study site. Researchers at Lopé NP, Gabon, have recorded monthly crown observations of leaf, flower and fruit phenology for 88 plant species since 1984. For a subset of these data, we first identified dominant regular phenological cycles, using Fourier analysis, and then tested the impact of observation uncertainty on cycle detectability, using expert knowledge and generalized linear mixed modeling (827 individual plants of 61 species). We show that experienced field observers can provide important information on major sources of noise in data collection and that observation length, phenophase visibility and duration are all positive predictors of cycle detectability. We find that when a phenological event lasts >4 wk, an additional 10 yr of data increases cycle detectability by 114 percent and that cycle detectability is 92 percent higher for the most visible events compared to the least. We also find that cycle detectability is four times as high for flowers compared to ripe fruits after 10 yr. To maximize returns in the short‐term, resources for long‐term monitoring of phenology should be targeted toward highly visible phenophases and events that last longer than the observation interval. In addition, programs that monitor flowering phenology are likely to accurately detect regular cycles more quickly than those monitoring fruits, thus providing a baseline for future assessments of change.

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Most ‘global’ reviews of species’ responses to climate change are not truly global

Cited by 89 publications

References 30 publications

Where on Earth are the “tropics”?

Where on Earth are the “tropics”?

Elevational changes in the avian community of a Mesoamerican cloud forest park

Towards effective monitoring of tropical phenology: maximizing returns and reducing uncertainty in long‐term studies

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