Pleistocene climatic cycles altered species distributions in the Eastern Nearctic of North America, yet the degree of congruent demographic response to the Pleistocene among codistributed taxa remains unknown. We use a hierarchical approximate Bayesian computational approach to test if population sizes across lineages of snakes, lizards, turtles, mammals, birds, salamanders and frogs in this region expanded synchronously to Late Pleistocene climate changes. Expansion occurred in 75% of 74 lineages, and of these, population size trajectories across the community were partially synchronous, with coexpansion found in at least 50% of lineages in each taxonomic group. For those taxa expanding outside of these synchronous pulses, factors related to when they entered the community, ecological thresholds or biotic interactions likely condition their timing of response to Pleistocene climate change. Unified timing of population size change across communities in response to Pleistocene climate cycles is likely rare in North America. � 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS
Department of Herpetology, The American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West and 79th Street, New York, NY, United States; iDepartment ’Iolani School, 563 Kamoku Street, Honolulu, HI, United States; Department of Biology, 6S-143, College of Staten Island, 2800 Victory Boulevard, Staten Island, NY, United States; Department of Biology, The Graduate School and University Center, The City University of New York, 365 Fifth AveNY, United States; Museum of Natural Science, Louisiana State University, 119 Foster Hall, Baton Rouge, LA, United States; Department of Ornithology, The American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West and 79th Street, New York, NY, United States; Biology Department, City College of New York, New York, NY, United States; Division of Invertebrate Zoology, The American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West and 79th Street, New York, NY, United States
Recommended Citation:
Burbrink F.T.,Chan Y.L.,Myers E.A.,et al. Asynchronous demographic responses to Pleistocene climate change in Eastern Nearctic vertebrates[J]. Ecology Letters,2016-01-01,19(12)