Projected impacts of climate change on functional diversity of frugivorous birds along a tropical elevational gradient.

ABSTRACT: Climate change forces many species to move their ranges to higher latitudes or elevations. Resulting immigration or emigration of species might lead to functional changes, e.g., in the trait distribution and composition of ecological assemblages. Here, we combined approaches from biogeography (species distribution models; SDMs) and community ecology (functional diversity) to investigate potential effects of climate-driven range changes on frugivorous bird assemblages along a 3000 m elevational gradient in the tropical Andes. We used SDMs to model current and projected future occurrence probabilities of frugivorous bird species from the lowlands to the tree line. SDM-derived probabilities of occurrence were combined with traits relevant for seed dispersal of fleshy-fruited plants to calcula

SUBMITTER: Bender IMA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6881284 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature