Future distribution of tundra refugia in northern Alaska

• Main Authors: Andrew G. Hope, Eric Waltari, David C. Payer, Joseph A. Cook, Ra L. Talbot
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: Arctic; Climate change; Tundra; Alaska
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.640.7527; http://www.msb.unm.edu/mammals/documents/Hopeetal2013_NCC.pdf

Climate change in the Arctic is a growing concern for natural resource conservation and management as a result of accelerated warming and associated shifts in the distribution and abundance of northern species. We introduce a predictive framework for assessing the future extent of Arctic tundra and boreal biomes in northern Alaska. We use geo-referenced museum specimens to predict the velocity of distributional change into the next century and compare predicted tundra refugial areas with current land-use. The reliability of predicted distributions, including differences between fundamental and realized niches, for two groups of species is strengthened by fossils and genetic signatures of demographic shifts. Evolutionary responses to environmental change through the late Quaternary are generally consistent with past distribution models. Predicted future refugia overlap managed areas and indicate potential hotspots for tundra diversity. To effectively assess future refugia, variable responses among closely related species to climate change warrants careful consideration of both evolutionary and ecological histories. Rapid warming in the Arctic 1,2 is a strong impetus for investigating the responses of high-latitude species, particu-larly those considered at increasing risk of extinction or local extirpation3,4. The northern tundra ecosystem is perhaps at highest