Quaternary climate changes explain diversity among reptiles and amphibians

Miguel Bastos Araujo; David Nogués-Bravo; Alexandre F. Diniz-Filho; Alan M. Haywood; Paul J. Valdes; Carsten Rahbek

doi:10.1111/j.2007.0906-7590.05318.x

Quaternary climate changes explain diversity among reptiles and amphibians

Miguel Bastos Araujo, David Nogués-Bravo, Alexandre F. Diniz-Filho, Alan M. Haywood, Paul J. Valdes, Carsten Rahbek

Ecology and Evolution

274 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

It is widely believed that contemporary climate determines large-scale patterns of species richness. An alternative view proposes that species richness reflects biotic responses to historic climate changes. These competing "contemporary climate" vs "historic climate" hypotheses have been vigorously debated without reaching consensus. Here, we test the proposition that European species richness of reptiles and amphibians is driven by climate changes in the Quaternary. We find that climate stability between the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and the present day is a better predictor of species richness than contemporary climate; and that the 0°C isotherm of the LGM delimits the distributions of narrow-ranging species, whereas the current 0°C isotherm limits the distributions of wide-ranging species. Our analyses contradict previous studies of large-scale species richness patterns and support the view that "historic climate" can contribute to current species richness independently of and at least as much as contemporary climate.

Original language	English
Journal	Ecography
Volume	31
Pages (from-to)	8-15
ISSN	0906-7590
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2007.0906-7590.05318.x
Publication status	Published - 2008

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title = "Quaternary climate changes explain diversity among reptiles and amphibians",

abstract = "It is widely believed that contemporary climate determines large-scale patterns of species richness. An alternative view proposes that species richness reflects biotic responses to historic climate changes. These competing {"}contemporary climate{"} vs {"}historic climate{"} hypotheses have been vigorously debated without reaching consensus. Here, we test the proposition that European species richness of reptiles and amphibians is driven by climate changes in the Quaternary. We find that climate stability between the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and the present day is a better predictor of species richness than contemporary climate; and that the 0°C isotherm of the LGM delimits the distributions of narrow-ranging species, whereas the current 0°C isotherm limits the distributions of wide-ranging species. Our analyses contradict previous studies of large-scale species richness patterns and support the view that {"}historic climate{"} can contribute to current species richness independently of and at least as much as contemporary climate.",

author = "{Bastos Araujo}, Miguel and David Nogu{\'e}s-Bravo and Diniz-Filho, {Alexandre F.} and Haywood, {Alan M.} and Valdes, {Paul J.} and Carsten Rahbek",

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AU - Bastos Araujo, Miguel

AU - Nogués-Bravo, David

AU - Diniz-Filho, Alexandre F.

AU - Haywood, Alan M.

AU - Valdes, Paul J.

AU - Rahbek, Carsten

PY - 2008

Y1 - 2008

N2 - It is widely believed that contemporary climate determines large-scale patterns of species richness. An alternative view proposes that species richness reflects biotic responses to historic climate changes. These competing "contemporary climate" vs "historic climate" hypotheses have been vigorously debated without reaching consensus. Here, we test the proposition that European species richness of reptiles and amphibians is driven by climate changes in the Quaternary. We find that climate stability between the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and the present day is a better predictor of species richness than contemporary climate; and that the 0°C isotherm of the LGM delimits the distributions of narrow-ranging species, whereas the current 0°C isotherm limits the distributions of wide-ranging species. Our analyses contradict previous studies of large-scale species richness patterns and support the view that "historic climate" can contribute to current species richness independently of and at least as much as contemporary climate.

AB - It is widely believed that contemporary climate determines large-scale patterns of species richness. An alternative view proposes that species richness reflects biotic responses to historic climate changes. These competing "contemporary climate" vs "historic climate" hypotheses have been vigorously debated without reaching consensus. Here, we test the proposition that European species richness of reptiles and amphibians is driven by climate changes in the Quaternary. We find that climate stability between the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and the present day is a better predictor of species richness than contemporary climate; and that the 0°C isotherm of the LGM delimits the distributions of narrow-ranging species, whereas the current 0°C isotherm limits the distributions of wide-ranging species. Our analyses contradict previous studies of large-scale species richness patterns and support the view that "historic climate" can contribute to current species richness independently of and at least as much as contemporary climate.

U2 - 10.1111/j.2007.0906-7590.05318.x

DO - 10.1111/j.2007.0906-7590.05318.x

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0906-7590

VL - 31

SP - 8

EP - 15

JO - Ecography

JF - Ecography

ER -

Quaternary climate changes explain diversity among reptiles and amphibians

Abstract

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