Effects of climate change on pup growth and survival in a cooperative mammal, the meerkat

Alpine treelines are projected to shift upslope in response to climate warming, but empirical studies have yielded inconsistent results, with both upshifted and stable alpine treelines. Additionally, treelines on different slope aspects of the same mountain can differ. Thus, for a better understanding of the mechanisms of treeline formation and treeline responses to climate change, we need to elucidate the population dynamics at treelines on different slope aspects. Here, we quantified the population dynamics of Balfour spruce (Picea likiangensis var. rubescens) at treeline ecotones on contrasting north- and east-facing slopes on the eastern Tibetan Plateau based on field surveys. The alpine treeline positions of Balfour spruce have not advanced toward higher altitudes on the contrasting slopes in recent decades. Compared with the east-facing slope, more recruits occurred on the north-facing slope above the present treeline, indicating a more favorable regeneration condition. However, on the north-facing slope, the individual growth rate of Balfour spruce was lower, and the number of adult trees above the present treeline was higher than that on the east-facing slope. Thus, slope aspects mediate a trade-off between the growth and survival of treeline species, explaining the absence of an impact of slope aspects on treeline responses to climate change. Our results highlight the importance of considering the effect of topography on population dynamics in predicting alpine treeline dynamics under the scenario of climate change.

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High resistance to climatic variability in a dominant tundra shrub species

PeerJ ◽

10.7717/peerj.6967 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 7 ◽

pp. e6967 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Victoria T. González ◽

Mikel Moriana-Armendariz ◽

Snorre B. Hagen ◽

Bente Lindgård ◽

Rigmor Reiersen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

High Resistance ◽

Climatic Variability ◽

Growing Season ◽

Climatic Conditions ◽

Vegetative Cover ◽

Growth And Survival ◽

Growing Season Length ◽

Temperature And Precipitation ◽

Precipitation Regimes

Climate change is modifying temperature and precipitation regimes across all seasons in northern ecosystems. Summer temperatures are higher, growing seasons extend into spring and fall and snow cover conditions are more variable during winter. The resistance of dominant tundra species to these season-specific changes, with each season potentially having contrasting effects on their growth and survival, can determine the future of tundra plant communities under climate change. In our study, we evaluated the effects of several spring/summer and winter climatic variables (i.e., summer temperature, growing season length, growing degree days, and number of winter freezing days) on the resistance of the dwarf shrub Empetrum nigrum. We measured over six years the ability of E. nigrum to keep a stable shoot growth, berry production, and vegetative cover in five E. nigrum dominated tundra heathlands, in a total of 144 plots covering a 200-km gradient from oceanic to continental climate. Overall, E. nigrum displayed high resistance to climatic variation along the gradient, with positive growth and reproductive output during all years and sites. Climatic conditions varied sharply among sites, especially during the winter months, finding that exposure to freezing temperatures during winter was correlated with reduced shoot length and berry production. These negative effects however, could be compensated if the following growing season was warm and long. Our study demonstrates that E. nigrum is a species resistant to fluctuating climatic conditions during the growing season and winter months in both oceanic and continental areas. Overall, E. nigrum appeared frost hardy and its resistance was determined by interactions among different season-specific climatic conditions with contrasting effects.

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Altered leaf elemental composition with climate change is linked to reductions in photosynthesis, growth and survival in a semi‐arid shrubland

Journal of Ecology ◽

10.1111/1365-2745.13259 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 108 (1) ◽

pp. 47-60 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Lupe León‐Sánchez ◽

Emilio Nicolás ◽

Iván Prieto ◽

Pedro Nortes ◽

Fernando T. Maestre ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Elemental Composition ◽

Growth And Survival ◽

Semi Arid

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Climate sensitivities and uncertainties in food-web pathways supporting larval bluefin tuna in subtropical oligotrophic oceans

ICES Journal of Marine Science ◽

10.1093/icesjms/fsy184 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 76 (2) ◽

pp. 359-369 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Michael R Landry ◽

Lynnath E Beckley ◽

Barbara A Muhling

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Food Web ◽

Current Knowledge ◽

Fish Larvae ◽

Bluefin Tuna ◽

Larval Feeding ◽

Food Web Structure ◽

System Productivity ◽

Growth And Survival ◽

Climate Change Effects

Abstract Compared with high-latitude seas, the ecological implications of climate change for top consumers in subtropical regions are poorly understood. One critical area of knowledge deficiency is the nature of food-web connections to larvae during their vulnerable time in the plankton. Bluefin tuna (BFT) are highly migratory temperate species whose early life stages are spent in ultra-oligotrophic subtropical waters. Dietary studies of BFT larvae provide evidence of prey-limited growth coupled with strong selection for specific prey types—cladocerans and poecilostomatoid copepods—whose paradoxical or poorly resolved trophic characteristics do not fit the conventional understanding of open-ocean food-web structure and flows. Current knowledge consequently leaves many uncertainties in climate change effects, including the possibility that increased nitrogen fixation by Trichodesmium spp. might enhance resiliency of BFT larvae, despite a projected overall decline in system productivity. To advance understanding and future predictions, the complementary perspectives of oceanographers and fisheries researchers need to come together in studies that focus on the trophic pathways most relevant to fish larvae, the factors that drive variability in spawning regions, and their effects on larval feeding, growth, and survival.

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Long-term evaluation of pup growth and preweaning survival rates in subantarctic fur seals, Arctocephalus tropicalis, on Amsterdam Island

Canadian Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1139/z03-114 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 81 (7) ◽

pp. 1222-1232 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

Magaly Chambellant ◽

Gwénaël Beauplet ◽

Christophe Guinet ◽

Jean-Yves Georges

Keyword(s):

Growth Rate ◽

Food Availability ◽

Survival Rates ◽

Birth Date ◽

Growth And Survival ◽

Fur Seals ◽

Pup Growth ◽

Sst Gradient ◽

Subantarctic Fur Seals ◽

Arctocephalus Tropicalis

This study is the first to investigate pup preweaning growth and survival rates over seven consecutive breeding seasons in subantarctic fur seals, Arctocephalus tropicalis, on Amsterdam Island, southern Indian Ocean. Growth and survival were studied in relation to year and pup sex, birth date, birth mass, and growth rate at 60 days of age. The pup growth rate decreased over the 7-year study period and was the lowest ever found in otariids, which suggests that lactating females experience constant low food availability. Male and female pups grew and survived at similar rates. Pups that were heavier at birth grew faster and exhibited better early survival (i.e., the first 2 months of life) than pups that were lighter at birth. However, no such relationship was detected for late survival (i.e., from 2 months to weaning) in this long-lactating species. No relationship was found between pup growth rate, pup survival rate, and sea-surface temperature (SST) gradient during the study period, especially during the later years of good trophic conditions (i.e., a high SST gradient). Such dissociations suggest that variation in food availability may not be the only factor influencing pup performance until weaning. We therefore propose that the subantarctic fur seal population is reaching its carrying capacity and that a density-dependent effect is occurring on Amsterdam Island.

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Twinning in southern elephant seals: the implications of resource allocation by mothers

Wildlife Research ◽

10.1071/wr01069 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 30 (1) ◽

pp. 35 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Clive R. McMahon ◽

Mark A. Hindell

Keyword(s):

Reproductive Success ◽

Rare Event ◽

Elephant Seal ◽

Lactation Period ◽

Mirounga Leonina ◽

Elephant Seals ◽

Growth And Survival ◽

Southern Elephant Seals ◽

Lactation Duration ◽

Pup Growth

Southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) typically give birth to a single pup and raise it over a short 24-day lactation period. Lactation is characterised by: maternal fasting, rapid pup growth and abrupt weaning after which the weaned pups rely on stored fat for growth and survival. Females are not able to transfer all of their stored resources to their pups because they themselves need to use some to return to their remote foraging grounds after the breeding effort. Therefore the amount of energy expended by a female during lactation may affect not only the survival of her pup, but her own survival and future reproductive success. Female southern elephant seals are therefore under strong selective pressure to allocate finite amounts of resources to their pups. In the rare event of producing twins, females that wean both pups are likely to experience reduced reproductive success. Twin births accounted for 0.38% of all the observed elephant seal births at Macquarie Island in 1999. The mean birth masses, weaning lengths and lactation duration for twin and singleton pups did not differ significantly but weaning mass, weaning girths and lactation growth rates did differ significantly. In all cases, singleton pups were larger and grew faster than twin pups. Twin pups suffered greater pre-weaning mortality than singletons (16.7% and 4.6% respectively) and fewer were seen alive after 18 months (20% compared with 47% respectively).

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From spawning to first-year recruitment: the fate of juvenile sole growth and survival under future climate conditions in the North Sea

ICES Journal of Marine Science ◽

10.1093/icesjms/fsab025 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

K E van de Wolfshaar ◽

L Barbut ◽

G Lacroix

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

North Sea ◽

Future Climate ◽

First Year ◽

Climate Conditions ◽

Growth And Survival ◽

The North ◽

Early Arrival ◽

The North Sea ◽

Young Of The Year

Abstract This study shows the effect of climate change on the growth and survival of early life history stages of common sole (Solea solea) in different nursery areas of the North Sea, by combining a larval transport model with an individual-based growth model (Dynamic Energy Budget) to assess the fate from egg to young of the year at the end of the first growth season. Three scenarios of climate change, inspired by the 2040 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projections, are tested and results are compared to a reference situation representative of current climate conditions. Under climate change scenarios where wind changes, water temperature increases and earlier spawning are considered, the early arrival of fish larvae in their nurseries results in larger young of the year at the end of summer. However, early arrival leads to higher mortality due to initially slow growth in spring. Future climate scenarios result in higher biomass and reduced first-year survival. How this result translates into changes at population level and stock management needs further investigation. Nonetheless, this study illustrates that processes linking life stages are paramount to understand and predict possible consequences of future climate conditions on population dynamics.

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Disentangling the Effects of Genotype and Environment on Growth and Wood Features of Balfourodendron riedelianum Trees by Common Garden Experiments in Brazil

Forests ◽

10.3390/f11090905 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (9) ◽

pp. 905

Author(s):

Jane Rodrigues da Silva ◽

Sergio Rossi ◽

Siddhartha Khare ◽

Eduardo Luiz Longui ◽

Carmen Regina Marcati

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Tree Growth ◽

Linear Models ◽

Transfer Functions ◽

Mechanical Damage ◽

Common Garden ◽

Growth And Survival ◽

Functional Perspective ◽

Common Garden Experiments ◽

Growth Features

Intraspecific studies with populations replicated in different sites allow the effects of genotype and environment on wood features and plant growth to be distinguished. Based on climate change predictions, this distinction is important for establishing future patterns in the distribution of tree species. We quantified the effects of genotype and environment on wood features and growth of 30-year-old Balfourodendron riedelianum trees. We used three provenances planted in two common garden experiments with difference in precipitation and temperature. We applied linear models to estimate the variability in wood and growth features and transfer functions to evaluate the responses of these features to temperature, precipitation, and the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI). Our results showed that genotype had an effect on vessels and rays, where narrower vessels with thinner walls and larger intervessel pits, and shorter, narrower and more numerous rays were observed in provenances from drier sites. We also observed the effect of the environment on wood features and growth. Trees growing in the wetter site were taller and larger, and they had wider vessels with thicker walls and lower ray density. Transfer functions indicated that an increase in temperature results in larger vessels with thicker walls, taller and denser rays, shorter and narrower fibers with thinner walls, and lower wood density. From a functional perspective, these features make trees growing in warmer environments more prone to drought-induced embolisms and more vulnerable to mechanical damage and pathogen attacks. Tree growth varied with precipitation and SPEI, being negatively affected in the drier site. Overall, we demonstrated that both genotype and environment affect wood features, while tree growth is mainly influenced by the environment. Plastic responses in hydraulic characteristics could represent important functional traits to mitigate the consequences of ongoing climate change on the growth and survival of the species within its natural range.

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