Ecological and Evolutionary Responses to Recent Climate Change

Question 1

By far, most observations of climate-change responses have involved alterations of what?

Answer 1

Phonological changes- e.g recording the first signs of spring—the first leaf on an oak, the first peacock butterfly seen flying, the first crocus in bloom

Question 2

Species differ in their physiological tolerances, life-history strategies, probabilities of population extinctions and colonizations, and dispersal abilities. What does this mean?

Answer 2

These individualistic traits likely underlie the high variability in strength of climate response across wild
species, even among those subjected to similar climatic trends.

Question 3

Expected distributional shifts in warming regions are what?

Answer 3

Poleward and upward range shifts

Question 4

Example of impact at Polar latitudes?

Answer 4

Decline of sea ice = decline of ice algae = decline of krill = primary food resource for many fish, seabirds, and marine mammals.

Question 5

Decades of ecological and physiological research document that climatic variables are primary drivers of distributions and dynamics of marine plankton and fish. For example…

Answer 5

Globally distributed planktonic records show strong shifts
of phytoplankton and zooplankton communities in concert with regional oceanic climate regime shifts, as well as expected poleward range shifts and changes in timing
of peak biomass