Research: environmental change and movement
How will changing environmental conditions influence the selective pressures on movement?
Movement is essentially an adaptive response to environmental conditions, so as conditions change, the selective pressures on movement also change. This can result in, for example, a previously migratory species shifting to be non-migratory (and vice versa), which can in turn have consequences for the survival and viability of these species.
I conjecture that the ability of a migratory species to adapt to environmental change depends on the drivers of migration (Shaw 2016). We show that for a species of land crab with partial migration, global climate change (based on projections) may reduce the frequency at which individuals migrate, which could have quite a negative impact for this species (Shaw & Kelly 2013).
Environmental change can also lead to range shifts where populations move across the landscape to follow changing conditions. We have shown that spatially-structured populations are less able to track these changes and thus more susceptible to extinction risk (Weiss-Lehman and Shaw 2020).
Next:
Movement is essentially an adaptive response to environmental conditions, so as conditions change, the selective pressures on movement also change. This can result in, for example, a previously migratory species shifting to be non-migratory (and vice versa), which can in turn have consequences for the survival and viability of these species.
I conjecture that the ability of a migratory species to adapt to environmental change depends on the drivers of migration (Shaw 2016). We show that for a species of land crab with partial migration, global climate change (based on projections) may reduce the frequency at which individuals migrate, which could have quite a negative impact for this species (Shaw & Kelly 2013).
Environmental change can also lead to range shifts where populations move across the landscape to follow changing conditions. We have shown that spatially-structured populations are less able to track these changes and thus more susceptible to extinction risk (Weiss-Lehman and Shaw 2020).
Next:
- Can we generalize the ways in which different types of environmental change are expected to influence large-scale movement patterns?
- How will the motivation behind migration influence the ability of a species to adapt its movement in response to changing condition?
Relevant papers
Weiss-Lehman C, Shaw AK (2020) "Spatial population structure drives extinction dynamics in climate-induced range shifts." The American Naturalist 195(1): 31-42.
Shaw AK (2016) "Drivers of animal migration and implications in changing environments." Evolutionary Ecology 30(6): 991-1007.
Shaw AK, Kelly KA (2013) "Linking El Niño, local rainfall, and migration timing in a tropical migratory species." Global Change Biology 19: 3283-3290.
Shaw AK (2016) "Drivers of animal migration and implications in changing environments." Evolutionary Ecology 30(6): 991-1007.
Shaw AK, Kelly KA (2013) "Linking El Niño, local rainfall, and migration timing in a tropical migratory species." Global Change Biology 19: 3283-3290.