Saupe, EE, Hendricks, JR, Portell, RW et al. (4 more authors) (2014) Macroevolutionary consequences of profound climate change on niche evolution in marine molluscs over the past three million years. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 281 (1795). ARTN 20141995. ISSN 0962-8452
Abstract
In order to predict the fate of biodiversity in a rapidly changing world, we must first understand how species adapt to new environmental conditions. The long-term evolutionary dynamics of species’ physiological tolerances to differing climatic regimes remain obscure. Here, we unite palaeontological and neontological data to analyse whether species’ environmental tolerances remain stable across 3 Myr of profound climatic changes using 10 phylogenetically, ecologically and developmentally diverse mollusc species from the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains, USA. We additionally investigate whether these species’ upper and lower thermal tolerances are constrained across this interval. We find that these species’ environmental preferences are stable across the duration of their lifetimes, even when faced with significant environmental perturbations. The results suggest that species will respond to current and futurewarming either by altering distributions to track suitable habitat or, if the pace of change is too rapid, by going extinct. Our findings also support methods that project species’ present-day environmental requirements to future climatic landscapes to assess conservation risks.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2014, Royal Society of London. This is an author produced version of a paper published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Atlantic coastal plain; Conservation palaeobiology; Fundamental niche; Macroevolution; Mid-Pliocene warm period; Mollusca |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Earth Surface Science Institute (ESSI) (Leeds) The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Inst for Climate & Atmos Science (ICAS) (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 29 Jan 2015 15:29 |
Last Modified: | 27 Mar 2017 10:56 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.1995 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Royal Society of London |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1098/rspb.2014.1995 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:82681 |