Scholarly Work - Ecology

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://scholarworks.montana.edu/handle/1/8716

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    Environmental warming increases the importance of high‐turnover energy channels in stream food webs
    (Wiley, 2024-05) Junker, James R.; Cross, Wyatt F.; Hood, James M.; Benstead, Jonathan P.; Huryn, Alexander D.; Nelson, Daniel; Ólafsson, Jón S.; Gíslason, Gísli Már
    Warming temperatures are altering communities and trophic networks across Earth's ecosystems. While the overall influence of warming on food webs is often context-dependent, increasing temperatures are predicted to change communities in two fundamental ways: (1) by reducing average body size and (2) by increasing individual metabolic rates. These warming-induced changes have the potential to influence the distribution of food web fluxes, food web stability, and the relative importance of deterministic and stochastic ecological processes shaping community assembly. Here, we quantified patterns and the relative distribution of organic matter fluxes through stream food webs spanning a broad natural temperature gradient (5–27°C). We then related these patterns to species and community trait distributions of mean body size and population biomass turnover (P:B) within and across streams. We predicted that (1) communities in warmer streams would exhibit smaller body size and higher P:B and (2) organic matter fluxes within warmer communities would increasingly skew toward smaller, higher P:B populations. Across the temperature gradient, warmer communities were characterized by smaller body size (~9% per °C) and higher P:B (~7% faster turnover per °C) populations on average. Additionally, organic matter fluxes within warmer streams were increasingly skewed toward higher P:B populations, demonstrating that warming can restructure organic matter fluxes in both an absolute and relative sense. With warming, the relative distribution of organic matter fluxes was decreasingly likely to arise through the random sorting of species, suggesting stronger selection for traits driving high turnover with increasing temperature. Our study suggests that a warming world will favor energy fluxes through “smaller and faster” populations, and that these changes may be more predictable than previously thought.
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    Connecting research and practice to enhance the evolutionary potential of species under climate change
    (Wiley, 2023-01) Thompson, Laura M. et al.; Beever, Erik A.
    Resource managers have rarely accounted for evolutionary dynamics in the design or implementation of climate change adaptation strategies. We brought the research and management communities together to identify challenges and opportunities for applying evidence from evolutionary science to support on-the-ground actions intended to enhance species' evolutionary potential. We amalgamated input from natural-resource practitioners and interdisciplinary scientists to identify information needs, current knowledge that can fill those needs, and future avenues for research. Three focal areas that can guide engagement include: (1) recognizing when to act, (2) understanding the feasibility of assessing evolutionary potential, and (3) identifying best management practices. Although researchers commonly propose using molecular methods to estimate genetic diversity and gene flow as key indicators of evolutionary potential, we offer guidance on several additional attributes (and their proxies) that may also guide decision-making, particularly in the absence of genetic data. Finally, we outline existing decision-making frameworks that can help managers compare alternative strategies for supporting evolutionary potential, with the goal of increasing the effective use of evolutionary information, particularly for species of conservation concern. We caution, however, that arguing over nuance can generate confusion; instead, dedicating increased focus on a decision-relevant evidence base may better lend itself to climate adaptation actions.
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    Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout Recovery in Yellowstone Lake: Complex Interactions Among Invasive Species Suppression, Disease, and Climate Change
    (Wiley, 2023-10) Glassic, Hayley C.; Chagaris, David D.; Guy, Christopher S.; Tronstad, Lusha M.; Lujan, Dominque R.; Briggs, Michelle A.; Albertson, Lindsey K.; Brenden, Travis O.; Walsworth, Timothy E.; Koel, Todd M.
    n Yellowstone Lake, Wyoming, the largest inland population of nonhybridized Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout Oncorhynchus clarkii bouvieri, hereafter Cutthroat Trout, declined throughout the 2000s because of predation from invasive Lake Trout Salvelinus namaycush, drought, and whirling disease Myxobolus cerebralis. To maintain ecosystem function and conserve Cutthroat Trout, a Lake Trout gill netting suppression program was established in 1995, decreasing Lake Trout abundance and biomass. Yet, the response of Cutthroat Trout to varying Lake Trout suppression levels, collectively with the influence of disease and climate, is unknown. We developed an ecosystem model (calibrated to historical data) to forecast (2020–2050) whether Cutthroat Trout would achieve recovery benchmarks given disease, varying suppression effort, and climate change. Lake Trout suppression influenced Cutthroat Trout recovery; current suppression effort levels resulted in Cutthroat Trout recovering from historical lows in the early 2000s. However, Cutthroat Trout did not achieve conservation benchmarks when incorporating the influence of disease and climate. Therefore, the National Park Service intends to incorporate age‐specific abundance, spawner biomass, or both in conservation benchmarks to provide better indication of how management actions and environmental conditions influence Cutthroat Trout. Our results illustrate how complex interactions within an ecosystem must be simultaneously considered to establish and achieve realistic benchmarks for species of conservation concern.
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    Declines in body size of sockeye salmon associated with increased competition in the ocean
    (The Royal Society, 2023-02) Ohlberger, Jan; Cline, Timothy J.; Schindler, Daniel E.; Lewis, Bert
    Declining body sizes have been documented for several species of Pacific salmon; however, whether size declines are caused mainly by ocean warming or other ecological factors, and whether they result primarily from trends in age at maturation or changing growth rates remain poorly understood. We quantified changes in mean body size and contributions from shifting size-at-age and age structure of mature sockeye salmon returning to Bristol Bay, Alaska, over the past 60 years. Mean length declined by 3%, corresponding to a 10% decline in mean body mass, since the early 1960s, though much of this decline occurred since the early 2000s. Changes in size-at-age were the dominant cause of body size declines and were more consistent than trends in age structure among the major rivers that flow into Bristol Bay. Annual variation in size-at-age was largely explained by competition among Bristol Bay sockeye salmon and interspecific competition with other salmon in the North Pacific Ocean. Warm winters were associated with better growth of sockeye salmon, whereas warm summers were associated with reduced growth. Our findings point to competition at sea as the main driver of sockeye salmon size declines, and emphasize the trade-off between fish abundance and body size.
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    Understanding Local Adaptation to Prepare Populations for Climate Change
    (Oxford University Press, 2022-11) Meek, Mariah H; Beever, Erik A; Barbosa, Soraia; Fitzpatrick, Sarah W; Fletcher, Nicholas K; Mittan-Moreau, Cinnamon S; Reid, Brendan N; Campbell-Staton, Shane C; Green, Nancy F; Hellmann, Jessica J
    Adaptation within species to local environments is widespread in nature. Better understanding this local adaptation is critical to conserving biodiversity. However, conservation practices can rely on species’ trait averages or can broadly assume homogeneity across the range to inform management. Recent methodological advances for studying local adaptation provide the opportunity to fine-tune efforts for managing and conserving species. The implementation of these advances will allow us to better identify populations at greatest risk of decline because of climate change, as well as highlighting possible strategies for improving the likelihood of population persistence amid climate change. In the present article, we review recent advances in the study of local adaptation and highlight ways these tools can be applied in conservation efforts. Cutting-edge tools are available to help better identify and characterize local adaptation. Indeed, increased incorporation of local adaptation in management decisions may help meet the imminent demands of managing species amid a rapidly changing world.
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    Warming temperatures affect meadow‐wide nectar resources, with implications for plant–pollinator communities
    (Wiley, 2022-07) McCombs, Audrey L.; Debinski, Diane M.; Reinhardt, Keith; Germino, Matthew J.; Caragea, Petrutza
    Nectar production may be a point of sensitivity that can help link primary and secondary trophic responses to climate shifts, and is therefore important to our understanding of ecosystem responses. We evaluated the nectar response of two widespread native forbs, Balsamorhiza sagittata and Eriogonum umbellatum, to experimental warming in a high-elevation sagebrush meadow in the Teton Range, WY, USA, over two years, 2015 and 2016. Warming treatments reduced the occurrence of nighttime freezing and nectar volume but increased sugar concentration in nectar in both species in both years. Warming effects were also evident in a consistent increase in the number of flowers produced by B. sagittata. Our research suggests that warming associated with climate change has the potential to induce shifts in the nectar-feeding community by changing nectar characteristics such as volume and sugar concentration to which nectar feeders are adapted.
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    Earlier spring snowmelt drives arrowleaf balsamroot phenology in montane meadow
    (Wiley, 2022-08) Durney, J. Simone; Engel, Arden; Debinski, Diane M.; Burkle, Laura A.
    Climate change is shifting phenology globally, altering when and how species respond to environmental cues such as temperature and the timing of snowmelt. These shifts may result in phenological mismatches among interacting species, creating cascading effects on community and ecosystem dynamics. Using passive warming structures and snow removal, we examined how experimentally increased temperatures, earlier spring snowmelt, and the poorly understood interaction between warming and earlier spring snowmelt affected flower onset, flowering duration, and maximum floral display of the spring-flowering montane species, arrowleaf balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata), over a 7-year period. Additionally, potential cumulative effects of treatments were evaluated over the study duration. The combination of heating with snow removal led to earlier flower onset, extended flowering duration, and increased maximum floral display. While there was year-to-year variation in floral phenology, the effect of heating with snow removal on earlier onset and maximum floral display strengthened over time. This suggests that short-term studies likely underestimate the potential for climate change to influence phenological plant traits. Overall, this research indicates that B. sagittata's flowering onset responded more strongly to snow removal than to heating, but the combination of heating with snow removal allowed plants to bloom earlier, longer, and more profusely, providing more pollinator resources in spring. If warming and early snowmelt cause similar responses in other plant species, these patterns could mitigate phenological mismatches with pollinators by providing a wider window of time for interaction and resiliency in the face of change. This example demonstrates that a detailed understanding of how spring-flowering plants respond to specific aspects of predicted climatic scenarios will improve our understanding of the effects of climate change on native plant–pollinator interactions in montane ecosystems. Studies like this help elucidate the long-term physiological effects of climate-induced stressors on plant phenology in long-lived forbs.
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    Warming temperatures affect meadow‐wide nectar resources, with implications for plant–pollinator communities
    (Wiley, 2022-07) McCombs, Audrey L.; Debinski, Diane M.; Reinhardt, Keith; Germino, Matthew J.; Caragea, Petrutza
    Nectar production may be a point of sensitivity that can help link primary and secondary trophic responses to climate shifts, and is therefore important to our understanding of ecosystem responses. We evaluated the nectar response of two widespread native forbs, Balsamorhiza sagittata and Eriogonum umbellatum, to experimental warming in a high-elevation sagebrush meadow in the Teton Range, WY, USA, over two years, 2015 and 2016. Warming treatments reduced the occurrence of nighttime freezing and nectar volume but increased sugar concentration in nectar in both species in both years. Warming effects were also evident in a consistent increase in the number of flowers produced by B. sagittata. Our research suggests that warming associated with climate change has the potential to induce shifts in the nectar-feeding community by changing nectar characteristics such as volume and sugar concentration to which nectar feeders are adapted.
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    Earlier spring snowmelt drives arrowleaf balsamroot phenology in montane meadows
    (Wiley, 2022-08) Durney, J. Simone; Engel, Arden; Debinski, Diane M.; Burkle, Laura A.
    Climate change is shifting phenology globally, altering when and how species respond to environmental cues such as temperature and the timing of snowmelt. These shifts may result in phenological mismatches among interacting species, creating cascading effects on community and ecosystem dynamics. Using passive warming structures and snow removal, we examined how experimentally increased temperatures, earlier spring snowmelt, and the poorly understood interaction between warming and earlier spring snowmelt affected flower onset, flowering duration, and maximum floral display of the spring-flowering montane species, arrowleaf balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata), over a 7-year period. Additionally, potential cumulative effects of treatments were evaluated over the study duration. The combination of heating with snow removal led to earlier flower onset, extended flowering duration, and increased maximum floral display. While there was year-to-year variation in floral phenology, the effect of heating with snow removal on earlier onset and maximum floral display strengthened over time. This suggests that short-term studies likely underestimate the potential for climate change to influence phenological plant traits. Overall, this research indicates that B. sagittata's flowering onset responded more strongly to snow removal than to heating, but the combination of heating with snow removal allowed plants to bloom earlier, longer, and more profusely, providing more pollinator resources in spring. If warming and early snowmelt cause similar responses in other plant species, these patterns could mitigate phenological mismatches with pollinators by providing a wider window of time for interaction and resiliency in the face of change. This example demonstrates that a detailed understanding of how spring-flowering plants respond to specific aspects of predicted climatic scenarios will improve our understanding of the effects of climate change on native plant–pollinator interactions in montane ecosystems. Studies like this help elucidate the long-term physiological effects of climate-induced stressors on plant phenology in long-lived forbs.
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    Shifts in the wintering distribution and abundance of emperor geese in Alaska
    (Elsevier BV, 2021-01) Uher-Koch, Brian D.; Buchheit, Raymond M.; Eldermire, Charles R.; Wilson, Heather M.; Schmutz, Joel A.
    For wildlife species that winter at northern latitudes, harsh overwinter conditions can play an important role in population dynamics. Recent changes in global temperatures have resulted in distributional shifts of wildlife species, as well as amelioration of winter climates in northern landscapes. The emperor goose (Anser canagicus), an endemic migratory bird of the Bering Sea region, winters across a large area of the subarctic, with potential differences in migration strategies and costs among individuals. As a long-standing species of conservation concern due to decreased population size, understanding the response of emperor geese to changing conditions has become critical to on-going management. We sought to evaluate changes in wintering distribution and arrival/departure dates over time, by comparing spatial and temporal patterns of wintering emperor geese from 2015 to 2017 (using geolocator data) to satellite telemetry data collected from 1999 to 2004. Further, we quantified changes in spatial patterns of winter abundance by comparing historical and contemporary aerial and ground surveys at three island complexes encompassing most of their winter distribution. Our results indicate that emperor geese are arriving at wintering areas earlier and spending more time at these areas than in the past. Our comparisons among historical aerial and ground surveys suggests that increasing numbers of emperor geese are wintering closer to breeding areas in western Alaska; a change likely related to increasing habitat availability due to shifting environmental conditions. Our results also showed that fewer emperor geese are using an area in the core of their wintering range, suggesting either decreased habitat quality or a reduction in migration distance via alternative wintering locations. Overall, our study highlights a rapid response to apparent habitat change likely due to warming temperatures and a reduction in ice cover and emphasizes the importance of understanding complex interactions among migration distance, the environment, and habitat in interpreting site selection.
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