Quaternary Climate Change and the Geographic Ranges of Mammals. American Naturalist
T. Jonathan Davies, Andy Purvis and John L. Gittleman
The blurb...
Here we show that mammal species in more climatically variable environments have larger geographical ranges. Our results suggest a close association between a species’ tolerance for temporal and spatial variability in environment. Greater environmental tolerance for seasonal variability might provide the potential for larger ranges, and hence the potential for occupation of a wider breadth of habitat types. However, we find that the effect of longer term climate trends, measured here as the change in temperature since the last glacial maximum, has been direct.
Why should we care?
The impact of current climate change on species’ distributions and extinctions will therefore be determined by the geographical coincidence between historical and future climate scenarios, the ‘mesh size’ of the extinction filter imposed by past climate change, and whether similar ecological and evolutionary responses to historical climatic change are appropriate in an increasingly transformed and fragmented landscape.
NPR radio journalist Lance Orozco from KCLU-FM presents a feature on NCEAS.
I believe one of those 'exotic' accents might be mine.
http://www.kclu.org/news/local/
Phylogenetic trees and the future of mammalian biodiversity
T. Jonathan Davies, Susanne A. Fritz, Richard Grenyer, C. David L. Orme, Jon Bielby, Olaf R. P. Bininda-Emonds, Marcel Cardillo, Kate E. Jones, John L. Gittleman, Georgina M. Mace, and Andy Purvis
In this new paper, published in Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, we combine phylogenetic, geographic, and trait data, to explore diversity patterns across terrestrial mammals. Recent diversification rates and standing diversity show different geographic patterns, indicating that cradles of diversity have moved over time. Patterns in extinction risk reflect both biological differences among mammalian lineages as well as differences in threat intensity among regions. As a consequence of this uneven distribution of diversity and vulnerability, alternative currencies for conservation can suggest very different priorities. Phylogenetic methods allow us to identify species and regions most vulnerable to current threats, focussing conservation efforts on these taxa and areas may offer the best return per conservation dollar. However, we currently lack critical data on new threats, such as climate change, perhaps the most important future driver of extinctions.
Santa Barbara Independent
Interview with NPR journalist Lance Orozco from KCLU-FM
Predicting infectious diseases in wild primates and humans
Jonathan Davies & Amy Pedersen
Primate infectious diseases are most often shared between species which are closely related and inhabit the same geographic region. For humans, this means we may be most vulnerable to diseases from the great apes, which includes chimpanzees and gorillas, because these species represent our closest relatives. Many of the most deadly diseases known to mankind have originated among wild animals, e.g. AIDS and Ebola. Emerging infectious diseases are increasingly impacting human health and species conservation. Our study in Proc. R. Soc. provides a critical first step in predicting when and where a disease first crosses from one species to another.
The Telegraph
Santa Barbara Independent
May 2009: DNA Evolution Rates
Exploring the mechanisms responsible for heterogeneity in rates of molecular evolution among plant taxa. Meeting at Macquarie University, Sydney - thanks Drew!
October/November 2009: The role of niche conservatism in producing biodiversity gradients
Do we find more species in more productive or warmer environments simply because most higher taxa originated in such environments, and evolutionary constraints limit occupancy of colder or more arid regions. We'll let you know shortly...
2009: Linking phylogenetic history, plant traits, and ecological processes at multiple scales
An exciting effort to get to grips with phylogentic signal in community ecology - and perhaps generate a phylogenetic tree of all North American landplants!
