Microclimates buffer the responses of plant communities to climate change

TY - JOUR

T1 - Microclimates buffer the responses of plant communities to climate change

AU - Maclean, Ilya M. D.

AU - Hopkins, John J.

AU - Bennie, Jonathan

AU - Lawson, Callum R.

AU - Wilson, Robert J.

N1 - 5977, AnE; Data archiving: Property of and achived at University of Exeter

PY - 2015

Y1 - 2015

N2 - AimDespite predictions of high extinction risk resulting from climate change, range expansions have been documented more frequently than range retractions, prompting suggestions that species can endure climatic changes by persisting in cool or damp microclimates. We test whether such ‘microrefugia’ exist.LocationThe United Kingdom.MethodsWe examine fine-scale changes in the plant communities of a coastal grassland over a 30-year period in which spring temperatures increased by 1.4 °C. We look at whether changes in community composition and local colonizations and extinctions are related to microclimatic conditions.ResultsOur findings suggest that while community reassembly was consistent with warming, changes were smaller on cooler, north-facing slopes. Closer inspection of the patterns of species turnover revealed that species with low temperature requirements were able to persist on cooler slopes, while those with high moisture requirements suffered similar decreases in occupancy across all microclimates.Main conclusionsOur results suggest that cooler slopes may act as microrefugia, buffering the effects on plant communities of increases in temperature by delaying extinctions of species with low temperature requirements.

AB - AimDespite predictions of high extinction risk resulting from climate change, range expansions have been documented more frequently than range retractions, prompting suggestions that species can endure climatic changes by persisting in cool or damp microclimates. We test whether such ‘microrefugia’ exist.LocationThe United Kingdom.MethodsWe examine fine-scale changes in the plant communities of a coastal grassland over a 30-year period in which spring temperatures increased by 1.4 °C. We look at whether changes in community composition and local colonizations and extinctions are related to microclimatic conditions.ResultsOur findings suggest that while community reassembly was consistent with warming, changes were smaller on cooler, north-facing slopes. Closer inspection of the patterns of species turnover revealed that species with low temperature requirements were able to persist on cooler slopes, while those with high moisture requirements suffered similar decreases in occupancy across all microclimates.Main conclusionsOur results suggest that cooler slopes may act as microrefugia, buffering the effects on plant communities of increases in temperature by delaying extinctions of species with low temperature requirements.

KW - Biodiversity conservation, distribution change, global warming, microrefugia, redistribution, slope and aspect, topoclimate, topography

KW - international

U2 - 10.1111/geb.12359

DO - 10.1111/geb.12359

M3 - Article

SN - 1466-822X

VL - 24

SP - 1340

EP - 1350

JO - Global Ecology and Biogeography

JF - Global Ecology and Biogeography

IS - 11

ER -