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Thermal Limits Determination for Zooplankton Using a Heat Block

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Published on: November 18, 2022

Increasing temporal variance leads to stable species range limits.

John W Benning¹, Ruth A Hufbauer², Christopher Weiss-Lehman¹

¹Department of Botany, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071, USA.

Proceedings. Biological Sciences

|May 11, 2022

Summary

Temporal environmental variation significantly impacts species range dynamics, influencing population adaptation and expansion into new habitats. Understanding this temporal variation is key to predicting species

Keywords:

adaptation fluctuating selection geographic distributions invasion species range limits temporal stochasticity

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Area of Science:

Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Population Genetics
Climate Change Biology

Background:

Species' geographic range limits are traditionally explained by gene flow across spatial environmental gradients.
Temporal environmental variation is known to affect population demography and evolution, but its role in range dynamics is less understood.
Existing models often overlook the dynamic nature of environments over time.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate how temporal variation in environmental conditions influences population spread across spatial environmental gradients.
To compare range dynamics in temporally varying versus static environments.
To identify mechanisms by which temporal variation shapes species' range limits.

Main Methods:

Employed analytical and individual-based evolutionary models.
Simulated population spread across a spatial environmental gradient under different temporal variation scenarios.
Analyzed the interplay between temporal autocorrelation, spatial gradient steepness, and temporal variance magnitude.

Main Results:

Temporal variation significantly alters predictions of species range dynamics compared to static environments.
When temporal variance is uniform, species' fate (expansion vs. extinction) depends on the interaction between temporal autocorrelation and spatial gradient steepness.
Increasing temporal variance across the landscape creates stable range limits by inducing maladaptation that prevents local persistence.

Conclusions:

Temporal environmental variation is a critical factor in determining the success of species colonizing novel habitats.
The dynamics of temporal variation (autocorrelation and magnitude changes) play a pivotal role in establishing species' range limits.
Future studies on species distribution and adaptation must incorporate temporal environmental dynamics.