Geographical variation in species' population responses to changes in temperature and precipitation.

ABSTRACT: Despite increasing concerns about the vulnerability of species' populations to climate change, there has been little overall synthesis of how individual population responses to variation in climate differ between taxa, with trophic level or geographically. To address this, we extracted data from 132 long-term (greater than or equal to 20 years) studies of population responses to temperature and precipitation covering 236 animal and plant species across terrestrial and freshwater habitats. Our results identify likely geographical differences in the effects of climate change on populations and communities in line with macroecological theory. Temperature tended to have a greater overall impact on populations than precipitation, although the effects of increased precipitation varied strongly w

SUBMITTER: Pearce-Higgins JW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4650153 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature