Cargando…
Summer Precipitation Predicts Spatial Distributions of Semiaquatic Mammals
Climate change is predicted to increase the frequency of droughts and intensity of seasonal precipitation in many regions. Semiaquatic mammals should be vulnerable to this increased variability in precipitation, especially in human-modified landscapes where dispersal to suitable habitat or temporary...
Autores principales: | , , , , , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Public Library of Science
2015
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4540445/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26284916 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0135036 |
_version_ | 1782386243767631872 |
---|---|
author | Ahlers, Adam A. Cotner, Lisa A. Wolff, Patrick J. Mitchell, Mark A. Heske, Edward J. Schooley, Robert L. |
author_facet | Ahlers, Adam A. Cotner, Lisa A. Wolff, Patrick J. Mitchell, Mark A. Heske, Edward J. Schooley, Robert L. |
author_sort | Ahlers, Adam A. |
collection | PubMed |
description | Climate change is predicted to increase the frequency of droughts and intensity of seasonal precipitation in many regions. Semiaquatic mammals should be vulnerable to this increased variability in precipitation, especially in human-modified landscapes where dispersal to suitable habitat or temporary refugia may be limited. Using six years of presence-absence data (2007–2012) spanning years of record-breaking drought and flood conditions, we evaluated regional occupancy dynamics of American mink (Neovison vison) and muskrats (Ondatra zibethicus) in a highly altered agroecosystem in Illinois, USA. We used noninvasive sign surveys and a multiseason occupancy modeling approach to estimate annual occupancy rates for both species and related these rates to summer precipitation. We also tracked radiomarked individuals to assess mortality risk for both species when moving in terrestrial areas. Annual model-averaged estimates of occupancy for mink and muskrat were correlated positively to summer precipitation. Mink and muskrats were widespread during a year (2008) with above-average precipitation. However, estimates of site occupancy declined substantially for mink (0.56) and especially muskrats (0.09) during the severe drought of 2012. Mink are generalist predators that probably use terrestrial habitat during droughts. However, mink had substantially greater risk of mortality away from streams. In comparison, muskrats are more restricted to aquatic habitats and likely suffered high mortality during the drought. Our patterns are striking, but a more mechanistic understanding is needed of how semiaquatic species in human-modified ecosystems will respond ecologically in situ to extreme weather events predicted by climate-change models. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-4540445 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2015 |
publisher | Public Library of Science |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-45404452015-08-24 Summer Precipitation Predicts Spatial Distributions of Semiaquatic Mammals Ahlers, Adam A. Cotner, Lisa A. Wolff, Patrick J. Mitchell, Mark A. Heske, Edward J. Schooley, Robert L. PLoS One Research Article Climate change is predicted to increase the frequency of droughts and intensity of seasonal precipitation in many regions. Semiaquatic mammals should be vulnerable to this increased variability in precipitation, especially in human-modified landscapes where dispersal to suitable habitat or temporary refugia may be limited. Using six years of presence-absence data (2007–2012) spanning years of record-breaking drought and flood conditions, we evaluated regional occupancy dynamics of American mink (Neovison vison) and muskrats (Ondatra zibethicus) in a highly altered agroecosystem in Illinois, USA. We used noninvasive sign surveys and a multiseason occupancy modeling approach to estimate annual occupancy rates for both species and related these rates to summer precipitation. We also tracked radiomarked individuals to assess mortality risk for both species when moving in terrestrial areas. Annual model-averaged estimates of occupancy for mink and muskrat were correlated positively to summer precipitation. Mink and muskrats were widespread during a year (2008) with above-average precipitation. However, estimates of site occupancy declined substantially for mink (0.56) and especially muskrats (0.09) during the severe drought of 2012. Mink are generalist predators that probably use terrestrial habitat during droughts. However, mink had substantially greater risk of mortality away from streams. In comparison, muskrats are more restricted to aquatic habitats and likely suffered high mortality during the drought. Our patterns are striking, but a more mechanistic understanding is needed of how semiaquatic species in human-modified ecosystems will respond ecologically in situ to extreme weather events predicted by climate-change models. Public Library of Science 2015-08-18 /pmc/articles/PMC4540445/ /pubmed/26284916 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0135036 Text en © 2015 Ahlers et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited. |
spellingShingle | Research Article Ahlers, Adam A. Cotner, Lisa A. Wolff, Patrick J. Mitchell, Mark A. Heske, Edward J. Schooley, Robert L. Summer Precipitation Predicts Spatial Distributions of Semiaquatic Mammals |
title | Summer Precipitation Predicts Spatial Distributions of Semiaquatic Mammals |
title_full | Summer Precipitation Predicts Spatial Distributions of Semiaquatic Mammals |
title_fullStr | Summer Precipitation Predicts Spatial Distributions of Semiaquatic Mammals |
title_full_unstemmed | Summer Precipitation Predicts Spatial Distributions of Semiaquatic Mammals |
title_short | Summer Precipitation Predicts Spatial Distributions of Semiaquatic Mammals |
title_sort | summer precipitation predicts spatial distributions of semiaquatic mammals |
topic | Research Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4540445/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26284916 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0135036 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT ahlersadama summerprecipitationpredictsspatialdistributionsofsemiaquaticmammals AT cotnerlisaa summerprecipitationpredictsspatialdistributionsofsemiaquaticmammals AT wolffpatrickj summerprecipitationpredictsspatialdistributionsofsemiaquaticmammals AT mitchellmarka summerprecipitationpredictsspatialdistributionsofsemiaquaticmammals AT heskeedwardj summerprecipitationpredictsspatialdistributionsofsemiaquaticmammals AT schooleyrobertl summerprecipitationpredictsspatialdistributionsofsemiaquaticmammals |