A recent study out of UBC and the University of Montpellier found that one of the impacts of the climate crisis is likely to be increased competition between species as they’re pushed out of their historical range.
As organisms vie for survival in a fast-changing landscape, many are forced to disperse, evolve or both.
Previous research has been focused on either disperson or adaptation. Dispersion is a species’ movement across a landscape, either in latitude or elevation, while adaptation refers to evolutionary change brought on by environmental changes. Both options should theoretically work in conjunction with the other.
Yet, new research indicates that this may not be the case.
In an article published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, UBC ecologist Dr. Patrick Thompson and Dr. Emanuel Fronhofer of University of Montpellier found that previous research into adaptation and dispersion has failed to look at how these concepts impact one another, complicating the maintenance of biodiversity in a changing climate.
The study was conducted through computer simulations that modeled multiple species interactions. What they found was that adaptation and dispersion can impede one another when looking at species interactions.
Failing to take species interactions into account can cause projected species survival rates to be higher than they may actually be. Thompson explained why only looking at either evolution or dispersion is an issue.
“What we see, rather predictably, is that when you don’t have species interacting, you’re basically just considering species one at a time,” he said. “When you put the species interactions into the picture, we actually see this conflict arise between movement and evolution, where you get some species evolving faster and they prevent slower-adapting species from being able to shift their ranges.”
While some species move to other landscapes, others may stay behind, which could lead to more competition between species. This could potentially lead slower-evolving species to move towards extinction at a rate higher than previously projected when only looking at dispersion or adaptation.
Another potential complication that could arise is when species that depend on one another become disjointed from dispersion due to the climate crisis, though this is something the study authors didn’t directly consider.
Despite this, Thompson said that the findings can also provide a framework for how to maintain biodiversity.
“When species are able to move freely across the landscape, we don’t see this negative effect of the two processes combining,” said Thompson. “I think that this speaks to the benefit if we keep landscapes connected and we allow for higher rates of movement, then we’re likely to see biodiversity preserved in changing climates.”
Initiatives such as wildlife corridors could help preserve biodiversity by making dispersal more achievable for species. Along with that, maintaining species populations would allow for greater genetic diversity which would help species evolve faster for a new landscape.
“There are lots of wildlife corridor initiatives going on, one of the most famous ones is the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative, where they’re looking to link protected areas along the spine of the North American Rocky Mountains,” said Thompson.
“What our study does is look at the theory of how we think these types of processes are acting to affect ecosystems and can give a bit more information when someone might be trying to design a protected area.”A recent study out of UBC and the University of Montpellier found that one of the impacts of the climate crisis is likely to be increased competition between species as they're pushed out of their historical range.
As organisms vie for survival in a fast-changing landscape, many are forced to disperse, evolve, or both.
Previous research has been focused on either disperson or adaptation. Dispersion is a species’ movement across a landscape, either in latitude or elevation, while adaptation refers to evolutionary change brought on by environmental changes. Both options should theoretically work in conjunction with the other.
Yet, new research indicates that this may not be the case.
In an article published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in the United States of America, UBC ecologist Dr. Patrick Thompson and Dr. Emanuel Fronhofer of University of Montpellier found that previous research into adaptation and dispersion has failed to look at how these concepts impact one another, complicating the maintenance of biodiversity in a changing climate.
The study was conducted through computer simulations that modeled multiple species interactions. What they found was that adaptation and dispersion can impede one another when looking at species interactions.
Failing to take species interactions into account can cause projected species survival rates to be higher than they may actually be. Thompson explained why only looking at either evolution or dispersion is an issue.
“What we see, rather predictably, is that when you don’t have species interacting, you’re basically just considering species one at a time,” he said. “When you put the species interactions into the picture, we actually see this conflict arise between movement and evolution, where you get some species evolving faster and they prevent slower-adapting species from being able to shift their ranges.”
While some species move to other landscapes, others may stay behind, which could lead to more competition between species. This could potentially lead slower-evolving species to move towards extinction at a rate higher than previously projected when only looking at dispersion or adaptation.
Another potential complication that could arise is when species that depend on one another become disjointed from dispersion due to climate change, though this is something the study authors didn’t directly consider.
Despite this, Thompson said that the findings can also provide a framework for how to maintain biodiversity.
“When species are able to move freely across the landscape, we don’t see this negative effect of the two processes combining,” said Thompson. “I think that this speaks to the benefit if we keep landscapes connected and we allow for higher rates of movement, then we’re likely to see biodiversity preserved in changing climates.”
Initiatives such as wildlife corridors could help preserve biodiversity by making dispersal more achievable for species. Along with that, maintaining species populations would allow for greater genetic diversity which would help species evolve faster for a new landscape.
“There are lots of wildlife corridor initiatives going on, one of the most famous ones is the Yellowstone to Yukon conservation initiative, where they’re actually looking to link protected areas along the spine of the North American Rocky Mountains,” said Thompson.
“What our study does is look at the theory of how we actually think these types of processes are acting to affect ecosystems and can give a bit more information when someone might be trying to design a protected area.”