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Quo vadis amphibia? Global warming and breeding phenology in frogs, toads and salamanders

While, Geoffrey M. and Uller, Tobias LU (2014) In Ecography 37(10). p.921-929
Abstract
As the earth is getting warmer, many animals and plants have shifted their timing of breeding towards earlier dates. However, there is substantial variation between populations in phenological shifts that typically goes unexplained. Identification of the different location and species characteristics that drive such variable responses to global warming is crucial if we are to make predictions for how projected climate change scenarios will play out on local and global scales. Here we conducted a phylogenetically controlled meta-analysis of breeding phenology across frogs, toads and salamanders to examine the extent of variation in amphibian breeding phenology in response to global climate change. We show that there is strong geographic... (More)
As the earth is getting warmer, many animals and plants have shifted their timing of breeding towards earlier dates. However, there is substantial variation between populations in phenological shifts that typically goes unexplained. Identification of the different location and species characteristics that drive such variable responses to global warming is crucial if we are to make predictions for how projected climate change scenarios will play out on local and global scales. Here we conducted a phylogenetically controlled meta-analysis of breeding phenology across frogs, toads and salamanders to examine the extent of variation in amphibian breeding phenology in response to global climate change. We show that there is strong geographic variation in response to global climate change, with species at higher latitudes exhibiting a more pronounced shift to earlier breeding than those at lower latitudes. Our analyses suggest that this latitude effect is a result of both the increased temperature (but not precipitation) at higher latitudes as well as a greater responsiveness by northern populations of amphibians to this change in temperature. We suggest that these effects should reinforce any direct effect of increasing warming at higher latitudes on breeding phenology. In contrast, we found very little contribution from other location factors or species traits. There was no evidence for a phylogenetic signal on advancing breeding phenology or responsiveness to temperature, suggesting that the amphibians that have been studied to date respond similarly to global warming. (Less)
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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Ecography
volume
37
issue
10
pages
921 - 929
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • wos:000342613600001
  • scopus:84927570300
ISSN
1600-0587
DOI
10.1111/ecog.00521
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
64f6c42b-f408-4254-ae0f-3d7fb2ed94b2 (old id 4803432)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 12:59:13
date last changed
2022-03-29 04:55:14
@article{64f6c42b-f408-4254-ae0f-3d7fb2ed94b2,
  abstract     = {{As the earth is getting warmer, many animals and plants have shifted their timing of breeding towards earlier dates. However, there is substantial variation between populations in phenological shifts that typically goes unexplained. Identification of the different location and species characteristics that drive such variable responses to global warming is crucial if we are to make predictions for how projected climate change scenarios will play out on local and global scales. Here we conducted a phylogenetically controlled meta-analysis of breeding phenology across frogs, toads and salamanders to examine the extent of variation in amphibian breeding phenology in response to global climate change. We show that there is strong geographic variation in response to global climate change, with species at higher latitudes exhibiting a more pronounced shift to earlier breeding than those at lower latitudes. Our analyses suggest that this latitude effect is a result of both the increased temperature (but not precipitation) at higher latitudes as well as a greater responsiveness by northern populations of amphibians to this change in temperature. We suggest that these effects should reinforce any direct effect of increasing warming at higher latitudes on breeding phenology. In contrast, we found very little contribution from other location factors or species traits. There was no evidence for a phylogenetic signal on advancing breeding phenology or responsiveness to temperature, suggesting that the amphibians that have been studied to date respond similarly to global warming.}},
  author       = {{While, Geoffrey M. and Uller, Tobias}},
  issn         = {{1600-0587}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{10}},
  pages        = {{921--929}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Ecography}},
  title        = {{Quo vadis amphibia? Global warming and breeding phenology in frogs, toads and salamanders}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ecog.00521}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/ecog.00521}},
  volume       = {{37}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}