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THE RESPONSE OF ANIMAL RANGE TO CLIMATIC AND LAND-USE CHANGES
Citation:
Wiegert, R G., E. O. Box, AND R R. Lassiter. THE RESPONSE OF ANIMAL RANGE TO CLIMATIC AND LAND-USE CHANGES. Presented at International Congress on Ecosystem Health - Managing for Ecosystem Health, Sacramento, CA, August 15-20, 1999.
Description:
The geographic ranges of animal taxa seem much more complex than those of plants, since mobile animals may be constrained by many factors other than readily measurable climatic conditions. These additional factors may include microclimate and availability of particular plant types for food or shelter. Animal range is thus estimated by a combination of climatic envelopes and subsequent "bioenvironment" modeling, in which "bioenvironment" is represented by a model involving the main vegetation characteristics required for food, reproduction and cover. Changes in vegetation have been projected to accompany climatic and land-use changes. As a result, it is expected that animal distributions may also change. Many animals are sensitive to vegetation changes, whether driven by climate or other factors. Potentials for change in animal ranges are evaluated by constructing climate and vegetation envelopes that encompass the functional requirements of selected animal taxa in North America. Projected climatic and land-use changes over the Mid-Atlantic region are used to generate gridded scenarios of potential future conditions in terms of climatic variables used in the climate envelopes. Animal ranges for the change scenarios are estimated by processing the gridded scenario data and constructing maps of projected future distributions. Maps of range changes are utilized to portray the magnitude and location of response, to suggest stresses which may be especially important, and to suggest the degree of vulnerability of existing animal populations to potential future stresses.