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Dispersal ability is a key determinant of the realized species niche. Yet, whether dispersal ability influences environmental specialization and exerts a direct, indirect, or null effect on species’ tolerances is still unclear. Here, we ask whether and how dispersal ability can shape both the realized and fundamental niches. Focusing on plants, invertebrates, and vertebrates of the topographically complex Atlantic Rainforest, a top global biodiversity hotspot, we further evaluate how dispersal ability correlates with species range shifts in response to climate change. We find that high-dispersal species have broader thermal tolerances relative to low-dispersal taxa. When projected in geographic space, the data predict widespread upslope range shifts of the Atlantic Rainforest biodiversity with the intensity and direction depending on the species-specific trends depending on dispersal ability. These upslope movements, in turn, may negatively impact the native communities intrinsically associated with the Atlantic Forest mountaintops. Under the warmest climate scenario predicted for the end of the 21st century, the models project that those species with the lowest dispersal ability, particularly low-dispersible ectotherms, will be the most impacted by local extinctions. In turn, the wider thermal tolerance of high-dispersible species will reduce shifts in their geographical range due to climate change. Given the rapid rate of habitat conversion experienced by this and other landscapes worldwide, we argue that the smaller endurance of low-dispersible species to environmental changes deserves special attention, as dispersal ability appears relevant for biodiversity management in a warmer world, especially in threatened species-rich regions such as this.

Made available in DSpace on 2022-05-01T15:46:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2022-01-01 Humans have reshaped the distribution of biodiversity across the globe, extirpating species from regions otherwise suitable and restricting populations to a subset of their original ranges. Here, we ask if anthropogenic range contractions since the Late Pleistocene led to an under-representation of the realized niches for megafauna, an emblematic group of taxa often targeted for restoration actions. Using reconstructions of past geographic distributions (i.e., natural ranges) for 146 extant terrestrial large-bodied (>44 kg) mammals, we estimate their climatic niches as if they had retained their original distributions and evaluate their observed niche dynamics. We found that range contractions led to a sizeable under-representation of the realized niches of several species (i.e., niche unfilling). For 29 species, more than 10% of the environmental space once seen in their natural ranges has been lost due to anthropogenic activity, with at least 12 species undergoing reductions of more than 50% of their realized niches. Eighteen species may now be confined to low-suitability locations, where fitness and abundance are likely diminished; we consider these taxa 'climatic refugees'. For those species, conservation strategies supported by current ranges risk being misguided if current, suboptimal habitats are considered baseline for future restoration actions. Because most climate-based biodiversity forecasts rely exclusively on current occurrence records, we went on to test the effect of neglecting historical information on estimates of species’ potential distribution – as a proxy of sensitivity to climate change. We found that niche unfilling driven by past range contraction leads to an overestimation of sensitivity to future climatic change, resulting in 50% higher rates of global extinction, and underestimating the potential for megafauna conservation and restoration under future climate change. In conclusion, range contractions since the Late Pleistocene have also left imprints on megafauna realized climatic niches. Therefore, niche truncation driven by defaunation can directly affect climate and habitat-based conservation strategies. Department of Animal Biology Institute of Biology University of Campinas (UNICAMP) Department of Biology Faculty of Arts and Science Concordia University Department of Biology University of Miami Instituto de Biociências Departamento de Biodiversidade Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) Department of Biology and Biology Ph.D. Program The Graduate Center of CUNY The City University of New York Department of Biology Center for Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World (BIOCHANGE) and Section for Ecoinformatics and Biodiversity Aarhus University Instituto de Biociências Departamento de Biodiversidade Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)

Remote sensing has transformed the monitoring of life on Earth by revealing spatial and temporal dimensions of biological diversity through structural, compositional and functional measurements of ecosystems. Yet, many aspects of Earth's biodiversity are not directly quantified by reflected or emitted photons. Inclusive integration of remote sensing with field-based ecology and evolution is needed to fully understand and preserve Earth's biodiversity. In this Perspective, we argue that multiple data types are necessary for almost all draft targets set by the Convention on Biological Diversity. We examine five key topics in biodiversity science that can be advanced by integrating remote sensing with in situ data collection from field sampling, experiments and laboratory studies to benefit conservation. Lowering the barriers for bringing these approaches together will require global-scale collaboration.

The genus Amazonella Lundblad, 1931 was originally described for an Amazonian species of water mite (Lundblad 1931: 63). Unaware its existence, Fouquet et al. (2012) re-delimited Dendrophryniscus Jiménes de la Espada, 1870 a genus of small Neotropical toads on the basis of molecular and morphological data, and proposed Amazonella as the name for a clade comprising the Amazonian species (Fouquet et al. 2012: 832). Amazonella Fouquet et al., 2012 is therefore a junior homonym of Amazonella Lundblad, 1931.