Eco-evolutionary consequences of habitat warming in communities from fragmented landscapes.
Résumé
Climate change and habitat fragmentation have emerged independently as two of the largest threats to biodiversity and ecosystems. In many cases, the ecological responses to these threats are mediated and complicated by eco-evolutionary dynamics. Here we present a new framework for understanding the simultaneous eco-evolutionary consequences of habitat fragmentation and warming for the dynamics of ecological communities. This framework is based on trade-offs among traits that emerge in response to warming and habitat isolation. Thermal environment affects traits related to metabolism, such as resource acquisition and activity level, which are also likely to have trade-offs with other energetically costly traits, like antipredator defense. Many such traits can be additionally influenced by fragmentation through its effects on the spatial environment experienced by individuals. We illustrate our framework with several example scenarios in which trade-offs among traits of interacting populations could result in eco-evolutionary dynamics with important consequences for communities. Theory and experiments that explicitly consider the consequences of eco-evolutionary dynamics in communities responding to fragmentation and habitat warming are urgently needed to yield more robust predictions for the long-term effects of multiple global change components