Journal
SCIENCE
Volume 341, Issue 6145, Pages 499-504Publisher
AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1126/science.1237184
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- NSF [EAR-0844223, DEB-1257033, DEB-1257164]
- Yale Climate and Energy Institute, Yale University
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Maryland Sea Grant [NA10OAR4170072 SA7528114DDD]
- Direct For Biological Sciences
- Division Of Environmental Biology [1257508] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Direct For Biological Sciences
- Division Of Environmental Biology [1257033, 1257164] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Biotic interactions drive key ecological and evolutionary processes and mediate ecosystem responses to climate change. The direction, frequency, and intensity of biotic interactions can in turn be altered by climate change. Understanding the complex interplay between climate and biotic interactions is thus essential for fully anticipating how ecosystems will respond to the fast rates of current warming, which are unprecedented since the end of the last glacial period. We highlight episodes of climate change that have disrupted ecosystems and trophic interactions over time scales ranging from years to millennia by changing species' relative abundances and geographic ranges, causing extinctions, and creating transient and novel communities dominated by generalist species and interactions. These patterns emerge repeatedly across disparate temporal and spatial scales, suggesting the possibility of similar underlying processes. Based on these findings, we identify knowledge gaps and fruitful areas for research that will further our understanding of the effects of climate change on ecosystems.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available