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Biological response to climate change on a tropical mountain

Author

Listed:
  • J. Alan Pounds

    (Golden Toad Laboratory for Conservation, Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve and Tropical Science Center
    University of Miami)

  • Michael P. L. Fogden

    (Golden Toad Laboratory for Conservation, Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve and Tropical Science Center
    University of Miami)

  • John H. Campbell

    (Golden Toad Laboratory for Conservation, Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve and Tropical Science Center)

Abstract

Recent warming has caused changes in species distribution and abundance1,2,3, but the extent of the effects is unclear. Here we investigate whether such changes in highland forests at Monteverde, Costa Rica, are related to the increase in air temperatures that followed a step-like warming of tropical oceans in 1976 (refs4, 5). Twenty of 50 species of anurans (frogs and toads) in a 30-km2 study area, including the locally endemic golden toad (Bufo periglenes), disappeared following synchronous population crashes in 1987 (6–8). Our results indicate that these crashes probably belong to a constellation of demographic changes that have altered communities of birds, reptiles and amphibians in the area and are linked to recent warming. The changes are all associated with patterns of dry-season mist frequency, which is negatively correlated with sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific and has declined dramatically since the mid-1970s. The biological and climatic patterns suggest that atmospheric warming has raised the average altitude at the base of the orographic cloud bank, as predicted by the lifting-cloud-base hypothesis9,10.

Suggested Citation

  • J. Alan Pounds & Michael P. L. Fogden & John H. Campbell, 1999. "Biological response to climate change on a tropical mountain," Nature, Nature, vol. 398(6728), pages 611-615, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:398:y:1999:i:6728:d:10.1038_19297
    DOI: 10.1038/19297
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    Cited by:

    1. Westervelt, James D. & Sperry, Jinelle H. & Burton, Jennifer L. & Palis, John G., 2013. "Modeling response of frosted flatwoods salamander populations to historic and predicted climate variables," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 268(C), pages 18-24.
    2. Maggini, Ramona & Lehmann, Anthony & Kéry, Marc & Schmid, Hans & Beniston, Martin & Jenni, Lukas & Zbinden, Niklaus, 2011. "Are Swiss birds tracking climate change?," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 222(1), pages 21-32.
    3. Philip Stouffer & Kristina Cockle & Alexandre Aleixo & Juan Areta & Juan Barnett & Alejandro Bodrati & Carlos Cadena & Adrián Giacomo & Sebastian Herzog & Peter Hosner & Erik Johnson & Luciano Naka & , 2011. "No evidence for widespread bird declines in protected South American forests," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 108(1), pages 383-386, September.
    4. Mengfan Zhu & Lowell Stott & Brendan Buckley & Kei Yoshimura, 2012. "20th century seasonal moisture balance in Southeast Asian montane forests from tree cellulose δ 18 O," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 115(3), pages 505-517, December.
    5. Eléonore Mira & Alain Rousteau & Régis Tournebize & Lucie Labbouz & Marie Robert & André Evette, 2022. "The Conservation and Restoration of Riparian Forests along Caribbean Riverbanks Using Legume Trees," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-15, March.
    6. Shengwang Bao & Fan Yang, 2022. "Influences of Climate Change and Land Use Change on the Habitat Suitability of Bharal in the Sanjiangyuan District, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-20, December.
    7. Pablo Imbach & Megan Beardsley & Claudia Bouroncle & Claudia Medellin & Peter Läderach & Hugo Hidalgo & Eric Alfaro & Jacob Etten & Robert Allan & Debbie Hemming & Roger Stone & Lee Hannah & Camila I., 2017. "Climate change, ecosystems and smallholder agriculture in Central America: an introduction to the special issue," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 141(1), pages 1-12, March.
    8. -, 2010. "The economics of climate change in Central America: summary 2010," Sede de la CEPAL en Santiago (Estudios e Investigaciones) 35229, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    9. Asma Bourougaaoui & Mohamed L. Ben Jamâa & Christelle Robinet, 2021. "Has North Africa turned too warm for a Mediterranean forest pest because of climate change?," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 165(3), pages 1-20, April.
    10. German Forero-Medina & John Terborgh & S Jacob Socolar & Stuart L Pimm, 2011. "Elevational Ranges of Birds on a Tropical Montane Gradient Lag behind Warming Temperatures," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(12), pages 1-5, December.
    11. Emilio Porcu & Philip A. White, 2022. "Random fields on the hypertorus: Covariance modeling and applications," Environmetrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(1), February.
    12. Doru Bănăduc & Saša Marić & Kevin Cianfaglione & Sergey Afanasyev & Dóra Somogyi & Krisztián Nyeste & László Antal & Ján Koščo & Marko Ćaleta & Josef Wanzenböck & Angela Curtean-Bănăduc, 2022. "Stepping Stone Wetlands, Last Sanctuaries for European Mudminnow: How Can the Human Impact, Climate Change, and Non-Native Species Drive a Fish to the Edge of Extinction?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-39, October.
    13. Pamela González-del-Pliego & Robert P. Freckleton & Brett R. Scheffers & Edmund W. Basham & Andrés R. Acosta-Galvis & Claudia A. Medina Uribe & Torbjørn Haugaasen & David P. Edwards, 2022. "Phylogeny and Morphology Determine Vulnerability to Global Warming in Pristimantis Frogs," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-12, December.
    14. Xiaoyu Wu & Shikui Dong & Shiliang Liu & Xukun Su & Yuhui Han & Jianbin Shi & Yong Zhang & Zhenzhen Zhao & Wei Sha & Xiang Zhang & Feng Gao & Donghua Xu, 2017. "Predicting the shift of threatened ungulates’ habitats with climate change in Altun Mountain National Nature Reserve of the Northwestern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 142(3), pages 331-344, June.

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