Assessing the vulnerability of rare plants using climate change velocity, habitat connectivity, and dispersal ability: a case study in Alberta, Canada

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• 作者：Quinn E. Barber ; Scott E. Nielsen ; Andreas Hamann
• 刊名：Regional Environmental Change
• 出版年：2016
• 出版时间：June 2016
• 年：2016
• 卷：16
• 期：5
• 页码：1433-1441
• 全文大小：2,338 KB
• 刊物类别：Earth and Environmental Science
• 刊物主题：Environment
  Geoecology and Natural Processes
  Geology
  Oceanography
  Geography
  Nature Conservation
  Regional Science
  
• 出版者：Springer Berlin / Heidelberg
• ISSN：1436-378X
• 卷排序：16

文摘

Climate change generally requires species to migrate northward or to higher elevation to maintain constant climate conditions, but migration requirement and migration capacity of individual species can vary greatly. Individual populations of species occupy different positions in the landscape that determine their required range shift to maintain similar climate, and likewise the migration capacity depends on habitat connectivity. Here, we demonstrate an approach to quantifying species vulnerabilities to climate change for 419 rare vascular plants in Alberta, Canada, based on a multivariate velocity of climate change metric, local habitat fragmentation, and migration capacity. Climate change velocities indicated that future migration requirements ranged from 1 to 5 km/year in topographically complex landscapes, such as the Alberta Foothills and Rocky Mountains. In contrast, migration requirements to maintain constant climate in relatively flat Boreal Plains, Parkland, and Grassland ranged from 4 to 8 km/year. Habitat fragmentation was also highest in these flat regions, particularly the Parkland Natural Region. Of the 419 rare vascular plants assessed, 36 were globally threatened (G1–G3 ranking). Three globally threatened species were ranked as extremely vulnerable and five species as highly vulnerable to the interactions among climate change velocity, habitat fragmentation, and migration capacity. Incorporating dispersal characteristics and habitat fragmentation with local patterns in climate change velocity improves the assessment of climate change threats to species and may be applied to guide monitoring efforts or conservation actions.KeywordsClimate change velocityClimate refugiaSpecies conservationSeed dispersalMigration corridorsManaged relocationAssisted migration