Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
change. is. most. accurately. told. by. synthesizing. our. understanding. of. multiple. evi-
dences.of.biotic.response.
We. have. made. an. intentional. effort. to. highlight. investigations. that. involve.
diverse. taxa. from. many. corners. of. the. globe.. Species. within. clades. as. diverse.
as. butterlies. (Fleishman. and. Murphy.
this volume
),. coastal. plants. (Jones.
this
volume
),. montane. and. arctic. mammals. (Guralnick. et. al.
this volume
),. wetland-
breeding.amphibians.(Blaustein.et.al.
this volume
),.and.boreal-forest.inhabitants.
(McLennan
this volume
). all. possess. unique. combinations. of. life-history. traits.
that.may.make.them.particularly.responsive.to.contemporary.changes.to.climate.
in. some. contexts,. relatively. resilient. to. altered. climates. in. other. contexts,. and.
particularly. sensitive. to. mitigation. and. conservation-adaptation. efforts. in. still.
other. contexts.. As. the. various. chapters. have. illustrated,. understanding. of. the.
biotic. responses. to. climate. is. only. achieved. when. an. investigator. has. intimate.
familiarity. with. the. ecosystem. and. its. drivers,. the. natural. history. of. the. focal.
species.and.the.species.with.which.it.interacts,.and.the.other.factors.acting.on.the.
focal.species..Furthermore,.given.that.climate.will.typically.interact.with.other.
drivers.and.stressors.(Root.and.Schneider.2006;.Thomas.et.al..2006;.Parmesan.
et.al..2011),.alternative.explanations.that.involve.no.inluence.of.climate.or.a.mix.
of. climatic. and. nonclimatic. factors. should. be. retained. explicitly. as. competing.
hypotheses.(e.g.,.Kelly.and.Goulden.2008).
As.relected.in.the.organization.of.section.themes.of.the.topic,.science.related.to.
contemporary. climate. change. begins. with. understanding. the. climatology. of. past,.
current,.and.future.regimes.as.it.relates.to.biotas..It.is.incumbent.upon.biologists.to.
remain.vigilant.for.new.ways.in.which.aspects.of.micro-,.meso,.macro-,.and.global.
climates. may. inluence. one. or. more. focal. ecosystem. components.. For. example,.
currently. in. most. contexts. it. is. relatively. poorly. understood. how. relative. humid-
ity.affects.short-.and.long-term.reproductive.success.of.many.animals,.although.it.
is. possible. to. conceive. how. experiments. could. be. devised. to. clarify. the. variable's.
role..Similarly,.although.several.kilometers.above.the.earth's.surface,.changes.in.the.
earth's. troposphere. may. directly. or. indirectly. affect. demographic. trends. of. wild-
life.species.or.freshwater.distribution,.independently.of.the.well-known.greenhouse.
effect.. Beyond. climatology,. biotic. responses. to. climatic. changes. can. occur. at. an.
autecological.level.and.at.a.community-wide,.synecological.level.(Jones
this volume
;.
Wilson.and.Gutiérrez
this volume
).
Given.this.body.of.primary.research,.long-term.monitoring.is.continuing.and.new.
efforts.are.being.initiated.at.numerous.spatial.and.temporal.scales.(Peterson.et.al.
this
volume
;.Goodin
this volume
;.McLennan
this volume
)..These.monitoring.efforts.seek.
to.detect.some.meaningful.subset.of.the.changes.caused.by.recent.climate.change.
at.places.and.times.other.than.those.associated.with.the.original.research.that.dem-
onstrated.those.changes..In.some.cases,.monitoring.has.provided.some.very.novel.
insights.about.the.what,.where,.and.when.of.biotic.responses,.and.occasionally.even.
some. how's. (Peterson. et. al.
this volume
).. In. turn,. both. investigative. research. and.
monitoring.will.be.used.to.make.conservation.decisions.and.strategies.in.the.face.of.
contemporary.climate.change.and.other.contemporary.ecosystem.drivers.(Dudley.et.
al.
this volume
;.Knutson
this volume
).
