Toward climate change refugia conservation at an ecoregion scale

Balantic, Cathleen; Adams, Andrea J.; Gross, Shana; Mazur, Rachel; Sawyer, Sarah C.; Tucker, Jody M.; Vernon, Marian E.; Mengelt, Claudia; Morales, Jennifer; Thorne, James H.; Brown, Timothy M.; Athearn, Nicole D.; Morelli, Toni Lyn

doi:10.1111/csp2.497

Cited by 13 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 134 publications

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“…Indeed, Spotted Owls' selection for stands with large trees and their elevated extinction rates in the absence of such trees (Jones et al 2018) may be influenced by the cool microclimates they create and the owl's comparatively low upper critical temperature (Weathers et al 2001). As temperatures continue to rise and heat waves become more frequent, it may be valuable to identify and conserve thermal refugia for Spotted Owls, Hermit Warblers, and other thermally limited species (Balantic et al 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can the Hermit Warbler ( Setophaga occidentalis ) serve as an old-forest indicator species in the Sierra Nevada?

Bielski,

Cansler,

McGinn

et al. 2024

JFO

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Changing fire regimes in western North America have raised the possibility of widespread loss of forest cover, making forest restoration a major priority. In one such ecosystem, the Sierra Nevada in California, the implications of forest management policy have been evaluated primarily via their potential effects on the California Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis occidentalis). Yet the owl's cryptic life history, large home range, and declining population all make it difficult to study. The Hermit Warbler (Setophaga occidentalis) may be a valuable proxy species for the Spotted Owl because the two have similar associations with older forest habitat, but the former could enable researchers to achieve higher statistical power when studying changes to key habitats. We conducted passive acoustic surveys across the entire west slope of the Sierra Nevada between May and July 2021, identified both Hermit Warbler and Spotted Owl vocalizations in the resulting audio using the BirdNET algorithm, and used single-season occupancy models to examine the relationship between Hermit Warbler occupancy and six remotely sensed variables representing key attributes of older forests as well as Spotted Owl presence. Hermit Warblers were observed at all sites at which Spotted Owls were present, but those sites represented just 30.5% of the Hermit Warbler's total occupied range. Hermit Warbler site occupancy was positively associated with mean tree diameter and the presence of Spotted Owls (model weight = 0.97). The Hermit Warbler is more appropriate as a proxy for habitat beneficial to the California Spotted Owl than as a proxy for the owl itself. As such, monitoring and studying the Hermit Warbler could be a means of understanding the effects of forest restoration on important old-forest habitat.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can the Hermit Warbler ( Setophaga occidentalis ) serve as an old-forest indicator species in the Sierra Nevada?

Bielski,

Cansler,

McGinn

et al. 2024

JFO

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“…In the smaller ranges, where losses of alpine grassland climate area will be proportionally greatest, the impact on diversity will be dire. Further investigations of scale dependence between areas of microrefugia and the extent of mountain ranges is needed to guide mitigation efforts (Balantic et al, 2021). Responses will need to combine local and regional factors and the combined effect of area and environmental heterogeneity as the best approach to the impacts of projected climate change on diversity.…”

Section: Implications For Conservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Area, environmental heterogeneity, scale and the conservation of alpine diversity

Malanson

Testolin

Pansing

et al. 2023

Journal of Biogeography

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“…Decoupling, however, refers to the complete independence of macroclimate and microclimate so that one does not influence the other (De Frenne et al., 2021 ). This refugia effect can occur across a variety of scales, affecting a variety of organisms and processes (Balantic et al., 2021 ; Baumgartner et al., 2018 ; Billman et al., 2021 ; White et al., 2022 ), and can be influenced by a number of landscape characteristics. Topographic effects, such as mountains and hill systems, create elevational gradients in temperature, with higher elevations, topographic depressions, and north‐facing slopes generally being cooler (Estevo et al., 2022 ; Scherrer & Körner, 2011 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lake Superior's summer cooling of shorelines and adjacent inland forests: Implications for refugia of boreal forests and disjunct arctic–alpine plants

Hillman,

Nielsen

2023

Ecology and Evolution

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Climate refugia can serve as remnant habitat for cold‐adapted species and delay forest transitions. The world's largest freshwater lake by surface area, Lake Superior, serves as a model system for understanding cooling‐mediated refugia effects, as its cool summer water temperatures have maintained disjunct populations of arctic–alpine plants on its shoreline since deglaciation. It is known to affect local inland climates by providing a summer cooling effect; however, the inland temperature gradient and spatial patterns of cooling have not been well quantified. Here, we describe the extent, degree, and patterns of temperature buffering and examine drivers of buffering and disjunct plant occurrence for Lake Superior's north shore over a 3‐year period at distances of 10, 100 m, 1, 10, and 100 km inland. We analyzed temperature data by year, month, summer maximum (July), and growing degree days (GDD0) for each site. Average summertime cooling at shore sites (10 m) was ~5°C cooler than reference sites (100 km inland), with a maximum difference of −19.2°C. The magnitude of cooling varied geographically, with sites further west and southeast showing little to no cooling effect, while the exposed north‐central shore showed the highest degree of buffering (5.8°C cooler) and had a shorter growing season than reference sites. Finally, north‐central shorelines had fewer days above 16°C, a threshold above which disjunct plants are unlikely to grow. These sites also showed the highest proportion of disjunct arctic–alpine species, reflecting the highest buffering from inland sites. On north‐central shores, sites up to 10 km inland had less than 10 days per year warmer than 20°C, a threshold identified for boreal forest transition. An understanding of the extent of lake‐mediated cooling on adjacent forests can better inform the risk to disjunct species, inland forests, and vegetation transition models on Lake Superior's north shore.

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Toward climate change refugia conservation at an ecoregion scale

Cited by 13 publications

References 134 publications

Can the Hermit Warbler ( Setophaga occidentalis ) serve as an old-forest indicator species in the Sierra Nevada?

Can the Hermit Warbler ( Setophaga occidentalis ) serve as an old-forest indicator species in the Sierra Nevada?

Area, environmental heterogeneity, scale and the conservation of alpine diversity

Lake Superior's summer cooling of shorelines and adjacent inland forests: Implications for refugia of boreal forests and disjunct arctic–alpine plants

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