Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
surveys.remain.locked.away.in.nondigital.format..Many.of.these.studies.represent.
systematically. collected. data. that. would. be. incredibly. valuable. if. they. were. digi-
tized.and.made.available.to.the.research.community.as.baselines.against.which.to.
measure. change.. Such. surveys. may. provide. especially. valuable. information. about.
species.absences.
There.is.also.a.strong.need.to.develop.mechanisms.that.increase.the.quality,.and.
help.determine.itness.of.use,.of.legacy.biodiversity.data..One.such.exemplary.tool.
is.Biogeomancer.(http://biogeomancer.org),.which.provides.a.means.to.convert.tex-
tual. descriptions. of. localities. (e.g.,. 5. miles. southwest. of. Boulder,. Colorado). into.
computer-readable.geographic.coordinates.along.with.a.measurement.of.geographic.
uncertainty.(e.g.,.latitude.39.9637418,.longitude.-105.3371878,.radius.of.geographic.
uncertainty.of.7191.m.for.text.description.above)..Geographic.uncertainty.measure-
ments. are. fundamental,. providing. a. standardized. assessment. of. the. precision. of.
legacy.locality.records..Those.records.with.high.precision.are.much.more.useful.for.
local. and. regional. biodiversity. studies,. while. low-precision. records. (e.g.,. those. ref-
erenced.to.county.or.even.state).may.only.be.useful.for.continental.or.global-scale.
analyses.
Equally.important.will.be.quickly.publishing.not.only.research.results.from.ield-
based.studies,.but.also.the.raw.data.that.have.been.captured..All.observational.data.
should. be. rapidly. and. freely. made. available. to. the. broader. community. so. others.
may.use.those.data.for.further.analyses.not.envisioned.by.the.initial.data.collectors..
We.argue.for.the.importance.of.global.repositories.for.such.observational.data..The.
quality.of.these.data,.in.terms.of.sampling.methodology.and.precision,.continues.to.
increase..We.must.make.available.not.only.our.observational.data.but.all.quantitative.
data.coming.in.from.climate.data.loggers,.along.with.quantitative.phenotypic.or.phe-
nological.data.as.such.information.becomes.available..In.order.for.this.endeavor.to.be.
successful,.there.needs.to.be.a.shift.in.academic.culture.concerning.the.value.of.data.
curation.as.balanced.against.competing.needs.such.as.publishable.research.results.
SUMMARY
Biologists.continue.to.document.that.mammal.species.distributions.respond.to.cli-
matic.changes.in.directions.predicted.by.thermal.biology..However,.the.many.cor-
relational. studies. on. this. topic. do. not. facilitate. an. assessment. of. the. causal. links.
between.changes.in.climate.and.changes.in.mammal.distributions..The.goal.of.this.
chapter.was.to.irst.summarize.existing.theory.and.data.concerning.how.terrestrial.
mammal.species.respond.to.climatic.change.and.then.provide.a.roadmap.for.more.
process-oriented.studies.of.species.distributional.responses..In.particular,.we.stress.
the.need.to.better.document.the.actual.factors.to.which.species.respond..Species.are.
less.likely.to.respond.to.“warming”.than.to.shifts.in.the.timing.and.magnitude.of.
changes.in.temperature.and.precipitation..The.chapter.was.organized.into.three.main.
parts..First,.we.discussed.four.main.factors.that.are.thought.to.determine.the.rate.and.
magnitude.of.distributional.responses..Those.factors.are.(1).the.dispersal.capability.
and.habitat.specializations.of.the.mammal.in.question;.(2).physiological.tolerances.
to.climatic.conditions;.(3).the.rate.and.magnitude.of.climatic.changes;.and.(4).the.
topographic.heterogeneity.within.a.species.range..Focusing.on.these.factors,.we.then.
