Less favourable climates constrain demographic strategies in plants

Csergő, Anna M., Salguero-Gómez, Roberto, Broennimann, Olivier , Coutts, Shaun, Guisan, Antoine, Angert, Amy L., Welk, Erik, Stott, Iain, Enquist, Brian J., McGill, Brian, Svenning, Jens-Christian, Violle, Cyrille, Buckley, Yvonne M. and Gurevitch, Jessica (2017) Less favourable climates constrain demographic strategies in plants. Ecology Letters, 20 (8). pp. 969-980. ISSN 1461-023X

Full content URL: http://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12794

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Less favourable climates constrain demographic strategies in plants
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Abstract

Correlative species distribution models are based on the observed relationship between species’ occurrence and macroclimate or other environmental variables. In climates predicted less favourable populations are expected to decline, and in favourable climates they are expected to persist. However, little comparative empirical support exists for a relationship between predicted climate suitability and population performance. We found that the performance of 93 populations of 34 plant species worldwide – as measured by in situ population growth rate, its temporal variation and extinction risk – was not correlated with climate suitability. However, correlations of demographic processes underpinning population performance with climate suitability indicated both resistance and vulnerability pathways of population responses to climate: in less suitable climates, plants experienced greater retrogression (resistance pathway) and greater variability in some demographic rates (vulnerability pathway). While a range of demographic strategies occur within species’ climatic niches, demographic strategies are more constrained in climates predicted to be less suitable.

Keywords:species interactions, abiotic stress hypothesis, stress gradient hypothesis, COMPADRE Plant Matrix Database, demographic compensation, ecological nich, models matrix, population models, population dynamics, spatial demography
Subjects:C Biological Sciences > C180 Ecology
C Biological Sciences > C170 Population Biology
Divisions:College of Science > Lincoln Institute for Agri-Food Technology
ID Code:36657
Deposited On:23 Aug 2019 09:18

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