Elevation increases in moth assemblages over 42 years on a tropical mountain
Elevation increases in moth assemblages over 42 years on a tropical mountain
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DOI：
10.1073/pnas.0809320106
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发表时间：
2009-02-03
影响因子：
11.1
通讯作者：
Thomas, Chris D.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Chen, I-Ching;Shiu, Hau-Jie;Thomas, Chris D.
生理学研究表明，热带昆虫对温度特别敏感，但是一直缺乏关于它们对气候变化反应的信息——尽管所有陆生物种中的大多数是昆虫，而且它们的多样性集中在热带地区。在此，我们提供了热带昆虫物种已经发生海拔升高的证据，证实了气候变化对生物多样性影响的全球范围。2007年，我们重复了最初于1965年在婆罗洲Kinabalu山进行的历史高度样带，在海拔1,885至3,675米之间采样了6个蛾类组合。我们估计，在过去的42年里，尺蠖科102种山地蛾的平均个体高度平均上升了67 m。我们的研究结果表明，热带物种可能与温带物种一样对气候变暖敏感，我们敦促生态学家寻找其他历史热带样本进行类似的重复调查。这些观测到的变化，再加上昆虫的高度多样性和热敏感性，表明大量热带昆虫物种可能受到气候变暖的影响。作为世界上生物多样性最丰富地区之一的最高山峰，基纳巴卢山是全球重要的陆地物种避难所，这些物种因气候变暖而限制在高海拔地区。
Physiological research suggests that tropical insects are particularly sensitive to temperature, but information on their responses to climate change has been lacking - even though the majority of all terrestrial species are insects and their diversity is concentrated in the tropics. Here, we provide evidence that tropical insect species have already undertaken altitude increases, confirming the global reach of climate change impacts on biodiversity. In 2007, we repeated a historical altitudinal transect, originally carried out in 1965 on Mount Kinabalu in Borneo, sampling 6 moth assemblages between 1,885 and 3,675 m elevation. We estimate that the average altitudes of individuals of 102 montane moth species, in the family Geometridae, increased by a mean of 67 m over the 42 years. Our findings indicate that tropical species are likely to be as sensitive as temperate species to climate warming, and we urge ecologists to seek other historic tropical samples to carry out similar repeat surveys. These observed changes, in combination with the high diversity and thermal sensitivity of insects, suggest that large numbers of tropical insect species could be affected by climate warming. As the highest mountain in one of the most biodiverse regions of the world, Mount Kinabalu is a globally important refuge for terrestrial species that become restricted to high altitudes by climate warming.