Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali, University of Bologna, Via Zamboni 67, 40126, Bologna, Italy.
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Museo di Geologia e Paleontologia, University of Torino, Via Valperga Caluso 35, 10125, Turin, Italy.
Sci Rep. 2022 Jun 25;12(1):10813. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-14972-7.
Investigation of ecological responses of species to past climate oscillations provides crucial information to understand the effects of global warming. In this work, we investigated how past climate changes affected the distribution of six bird species with different climatic requirements and migratory behaviours in the Western Palearctic and in Africa. Species Distribution Models and Marine Isotopic Stage (MIS) 2 fossil occurrences of selected species were employed to evaluate the relation between changes in range size and species climatic tolerances. The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) range predictions, generally well supported by the MIS 2 fossil occurrences, suggest that cold-dwelling species considerably expanded their distribution in the LGM, experiencing more pronounced net changes in range size compared to temperate species. Overall, the thermal niche proves to be a key ecological trait for explaining the impact of climate change in species distributions. Thermal niche is linked to range size variations due to climatic oscillations, with cold-adapted species currently suffering a more striking range reduction compared to temperate species. This work also supports the persistence of Afro-Palearctic migrations during the LGM due to the presence of climatically suitable wintering areas in Africa even during glacial maxima.
研究物种对过去气候波动的生态响应，为了解全球变暖的影响提供了至关重要的信息。在这项工作中，我们调查了过去的气候变化如何影响六种具有不同气候需求和迁徙行为的鸟类在西古北区和非洲的分布。我们使用物种分布模型和海洋同位素阶段 (MIS) 2 选定物种的化石出现情况，来评估范围大小变化与物种气候耐受性之间的关系。末次冰盛期 (LGM) 的范围预测，通常得到 MIS 2 化石出现情况的很好支持，表明寒冷栖居物种在 LGM 期间大幅扩大了它们的分布范围，与温带物种相比，经历了更明显的范围净变化。总体而言，热生态位被证明是解释气候变化对物种分布影响的关键生态特征。由于气候波动，热生态位与范围大小变化相关，目前适应寒冷的物种与温带物种相比，范围缩小更为明显。这项工作还支持了在 LGM 期间 Afro-Palearctic 迁徙的持续存在，因为即使在冰川最大值期间，非洲也存在气候适宜的冬季栖息地。
