Niche dynamics in space and time

• Published in: Trends in ecology & evolution (Amsterdam) Vol. 23; no. 3; pp. 149 - 158
• Main Authors: Pearman, Peter B., Guisan, Antoine, Broennimann, Olivier, Randin, Christophe F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.03.2008; Elsevier
• Subjects: Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Ecosystem; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; Geography; Models, Theoretical; Phylogeny; Species Specificity; Biogeography; Phylogeny; Biodiversity; Spatial variation; Time variation; Invasion; Dynamical climatology; Climate change; Spatial distribution; Geographic distribution; Ecological niche; Models; Distribution range
• ISSN: 0169-5347; 1872-8383
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2007.11.005

Niche conservatism, the tendency of a species niche to remain unchanged over time, is often assumed when discussing, explaining or predicting biogeographical patterns. Unfortunately, there has been no basis for predicting niche dynamics over relevant timescales, from tens to a few hundreds of years. The recent application of species distribution models (SDMs) and phylogenetic methods to analysis of niche characteristics has provided insight to niche dynamics. Niche shifts and conservatism have both occurred within the last 100 years, with recent speciation events, and deep within clades of species. There is increasing evidence that coordinated application of these methods can help to identify species which likely fulfill one key assumption in the predictive application of SDMs: an unchanging niche. This will improve confidence in SDM-based predictions of the impacts of climate change and species invasions on species distributions and biodiversity.*These authors contributed equally.