Habitat amount and distribution modify community dynamics under climate change

Abstract

Habitat fragmentation may present a major impediment to species range shifts caused by climate change, but how it affects local community dynamics in a changing climate has so far not been adequately investigated empirically. Using long-term monitoring data of butterfly assemblages, we tested the effects of the amount and distribution of semi-natural habitat (SNH), moderated by species traits, on climate-driven species turnover. We found that spatially dispersed SNH favoured the colonisation of warm-adapted and mobile species. In contrast, extinction risk of cold-adapted species increased in dispersed (as opposed to aggregated) habitats and when the amount of SNH was low. Strengthening habitat networks by maintaining or creating stepping-stone patches could thus allow warm-adapted species to expand their range, while increasing the area of natural habitat and its spatial cohesion may be important to aid the local persistence of species threatened by a warming climate.

Keywords

Butterflies; climate change; community dynamics; community temperature index; fragmentation; habitat amount; habitat configuration; semi‐natural habitat; species traits

Published in

Ecology Letters
2021, volume: 24, number: 5, pages: 950-957
Publisher: WILEY

SLU Authors

• Fourcade, Yoan

  • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • Universite Paris-Est-Creteil-Val-de-Marne (UPEC)

• Öckinger, Erik

  • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Global goals (SDG)

SDG13 Climate action

UKÄ Subject classification

Ecology

Publication identifier

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13691

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/111493