Relative Importance of Climate Variables to Population Vital Rates: A Quantitative Synthesis for the Lesser Prairie-Chicken.

ABSTRACT: Climate change is expected to affect temperature and precipitation means and extremes, which can affect population vital rates. With the added complexity of accounting for both means and extremes, it is important to understand whether one aspect is sufficient to predict a particular vital rate or if both are necessary. To compare the predictive ability of climate means and extremes with geographic, individual, and habitat variables, we performed a quantitative synthesis on the vital rates of lesser prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus pallidictinus) across their geographic range. We used an information theoretic approach to rank models predicting vital rates. We were able to rank climate models for three vital rates: clutch size, nest success, and subadult/adult seasonal survival. Of these three

SUBMITTER: Earl JE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5042413 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature