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There are a number of ways that climate change is beginning to impact wildlife. Temperature increases and changes in precipitation can directly affect species, depending on their physiology and tolerance of environmental changes. Climate change can also alter a species' food supply or its reproductive timing, which indirectly affecting its fitness. Understanding these interactions is an important step in developing management strategies to help species survive the changing climate.
This model was used in Camouflage mismatch in seasonal coat color due to decreased snow duration (Mills et al. 2013, PNAS). Information about this model and analysis can be found at: http://www.pnas.org/content/110/18/7360.abstract.
This model was used in Camouflage mismatch in seasonal coat color due to decreased snow duration (Mills et al. 2013, PNAS). Information about this model and analysis can be found at: http://www.pnas.org/content/110/18/7360.abstract.
Abstract (from http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/04/10/1222724110.abstract): Most examples of seasonal mismatches in phenology span multiple trophic levels, with timing of animal reproduction, hibernation, or migration becoming detached from peak food supply. The consequences of such mismatches are difficult to link to specific future climate change scenarios because the responses across trophic levels have complex underlying climate drivers often confounded by other stressors. In contrast, seasonal coat color polyphenism creating camouflage against snow is a direct and potentially severe type of seasonal mismatch if crypsis becomes compromised by the animal being white when snow is absent. It is unknown whether...
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The New England cottontail (Sylvilagus transitionalis) is the only native rabbit species in New England. Over the past 50 years, the cottontail’s range has been reduced by more than 80% as a result of habitat loss from maturing forests and land-use change, resulting in major population declines and concerns for the long-term prospects of this iconic species and other wildlife dependent on young forests. Another threat facing the New England cottontail is resource competition from eastern cottontails (Sylvilagus floridanus), introduced into the northeastern US in the early1900s. In response, the New England cottontail is considered a species of special concern by six northeastern states and was a candidate for federal...
Abstract (from Wiley): Populations along geographical range limits are often exposed to unsuitable climate and low resource availability relative to core populations. As such, there has been a renewed focus on understanding the factors that determine range limits to better predict how species will respond to global change. Using recent theory on range limits and classical understanding of density dependence, we evaluated the influence of resource availability on the snowshoe hare Lepus americanus along its trailing range edge. We estimated variation in population density, habitat use, survival, and parasite loads to test the Great Escape Hypothesis (GEH), i.e. that density dependence determines, in part, a species'...
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Abstract (from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ele.12568/abstract): Anthropogenic climate change has created myriad stressors that threaten to cause local extinctions if wild populations fail to adapt to novel conditions. We studied individual and population-level fitness costs of a climate change-induced stressor: camouflage mismatch in seasonally colour molting species confronting decreasing snow cover duration. Based on field measurements of radiocollared snowshoe hares, we found strong selection on coat colour molt phenology, such that animals mismatched with the colour of their background experienced weekly survival decreases up to 7%. In the absence of adaptive response, we show that these mortality...
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Snowshoe hares are the primary food source of the federally threatened Canada lynx. In western Montana for example, snowshoe hare make up 96% of lynx diet. In fact, hares are critical players in forest ecosystems because most carnivores prey on them. The main way that snowshoe hares escape predation is through camouflage. In response to changes in day length, snowshoe hares molt seasonally, changing color from brown to white in the winter to blend in with the snowfall and hide from predators. However, due to shorter snow seasons caused by recent changes in climate, snowshoe hares are turning white before it snows, making them more visible to predators. Because 21 other species around the world also undergo these...
    map background search result map search result map Can Camouflage Keep up with Climate Change? Connecting Climate Projections to Adaptation for the Snowshoe Hare Development of an Adaptive Management Framework for the Conservation of the New England Cottontail Can Camouflage Keep up with Climate Change? Connecting Climate Projections to Adaptation for the Snowshoe Hare Development of an Adaptive Management Framework for the Conservation of the New England Cottontail