Predicting potential responses to future climate in an alpine ungulate: interspecific interactions exceed climate...

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Climate Change Biology
• Animal Behavior

Background:

• Montane populations are shifting altitudinally slower than climate change.
• Understanding daily behavioral rhythms and environmental influences is key to predicting range shifts.
• Interspecific interactions can modify climate-driven ecological effects.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate ambient temperature and domestic sheep (Ovis aries) influences on Alpine chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra) altitude use and activity.
• Determine how interspecific interactions affect species' realized niche and response to climate change.

Main Methods:

• Field observations of Alpine chamois behavior and habitat use.
• Analysis of altitudinal shifts in response to temperature and sheep presence.
• Modeling of future range shifts considering behavioral flexibility.

Main Results:

• Chamois exhibit modest upslope movement with increasing temperature.
• Chamois react strongly to sheep presence, shifting 89-103m upslope, reducing foraging habitat by 46%.
• Warmer temperatures lead to reduced chamois activity, explaining limited climate-driven upslope migration.

Conclusions:

• Interspecific competition significantly impacts species' realized niche and response to climate change.
• Managing livestock can ameliorate climate change impacts on sensitive species.
• Behavioral flexibility, not solely climate, dictates species' responses, necessitating revised predictive models for climate change impacts.