Projected loss of a salamander diversity hotspot as a consequence of projected global climate change.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Significant shifts in climate are considered a threat to plants and animals with significant physiological limitations and limited dispersal abilities. The southern Appalachian Mountains are a global hotspot for plethodontid salamander diversity. Plethodontids are lungless ectotherms, so their ecology is strongly governed by temperature and precipitation. Many plethodontid species in southern Appalachia exist in high elevation habitats that may be at or near their thermal maxima, and may also have limited dispersal abilities across warmer valley bottoms.

Methodology/principal findings

We used a maximum-entropy approach (program Maxent) to model the suitable climatic habitat of 41 plethodontid salamander species inhabiting the Appalachian Highlands region (33 indiv

SUBMITTER: Milanovich JR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2922335 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature