Rapid upslope shifts in New Guinean birds illustrate strong distributional responses of tropical montane species to global warming.

ABSTRACT: Temperate-zone species have responded to warming temperatures by shifting their distributions poleward and upslope. Thermal tolerance data suggests that tropical species may respond to warming temperatures even more strongly than temperate-zone species, but this prediction has yet to be tested. We addressed this data gap by conducting resurveys to measure distributional responses to temperature increases in the elevational limits of the avifaunas of two geographically and faunally independent New Guinean mountains, Mt. Karimui and Karkar Island, 47 and 44 y after they were originally surveyed. Although species richness is roughly five times greater on mainland Mt. Karimui than oceanic Karkar Island, distributional shifts at both sites were similar: upslope shifts averaged 113 m (Mt. Karimu

SUBMITTER: Freeman BG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3970498 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature