Impacts of global change on species distributions: obstacles and solutions to integrate climate and land use

Sirami, Clélia; Caplat, Paul; Popy, Simon; Clamens, Alex; Arlettaz, Raphaël; Jiguet, Frédéric; Brotons, Lluís; Martin, Jean-Louis (2017). Impacts of global change on species distributions: obstacles and solutions to integrate climate and land use. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 26(4), pp. 385-394. Wiley-Blackwell 10.1111/geb.12555

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Aim: The impact of multiple stressors on biodiversity is one of the most
pressing questions in ecology and biodiversity conservation. Here we critically
assess how often and efficiently two main drivers of global change have been
simultaneously integrated into research, with the aim of providing practical
solutions for better integration in the future. We focus on the integration of
climate change (CC) and land-use change (LUC) when studying changes in
species distributions.
Location: Global.
Methods: We analysed the peer-reviewed literature on the effects of CC and
LUC on observed changes in species distributions, i.e. including species range
and abundance, between 2000 and 2014.
Results: Studies integrating CC and LUC remain extremely scarce, which
hampers our ability to develop appropriate conservation strategies. The lack of
CC–LUC integration is likely to be a result of insufficient recognition of the
co-occurrence of CC and LUC at all scales, covariation and interactions
between CC and LUC, as well as correlations between species thermal and
habitat requirements. Practical guidelines for the study of these interactive
effects include considering multiple drivers and processes when designing
studies, using available long-term datasets on multiple drivers, revisiting single-driver studies with additional drivers or conducting comparative studies and
meta-analyses. Combining various methodological approaches, including time
lags and adaptation processes, represent further avenues to improve global
change science.
Main conclusions: Despite repeated claims for a better integration of multiple
drivers, the effects of CC and LUC on species distributions and abundances
have been mostly studied in isolation, which calls for a shift of standards
towards more integrative global change science. The guidelines proposed here
will encourage study designs that account for multiple drivers and improve our
understanding of synergies or antagonisms among drivers.

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