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Assessing the Synergistic Effects of Land Use and Climate Change on Terrestrial Biodiversity: Are Generalists Always the Winners?

  • Interface of Landscape Ecology and Climate Change (B Zuckerberg, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

There is increasing evidence that land use and land cover (LULC) change interacts with climate change to shape biodiversity dynamics. The prevailing hypothesis suggests that generalist species have an advantage in novel climatic and land cover conditions, while specialists are expected to be more sensitive to both stressors (generalization hypothesis). Some posit, however, that specialization is key to success in the face of combined climate and LULC change (specialization hypothesis). The goal of this review is to examine recent evidence for the generalization and specialization hypotheses.

Recent Findings

Recent findings at population, species, and community levels provide initial support for the generalization hypothesis—i.e., that wide niche breadths are advantageous in the face of the combined threats of climate and LULC change. Evidence for the specialization hypothesis, however, also exists. Variation among studies in terms of their geographic context, spatial and temporal extent, environmental conditions, taxonomic scope, and metrics used to quantify niche breadth is a likely factor underlying the contradictory evidence for the generalization and specialization hypotheses.

Summary

Recent research suggests that generalist species are likely able to withstand greater changes brought about by climate and LULC change than specialist species because they persist in environmental conditions that are typically further away from their thermal or resource limits. However, to fully understand factors driving species’ vulnerability to interaction of climate and LULC change, future work should adopt standardized descriptions of niche breadth, retain consistent taxonomic scope whenever possible, and provide increased replication across different geographic contexts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA

    Colin P. Sweeney & Marta A. Jarzyna

  2. Translational Data Analytics Institute, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA

    Marta A. Jarzyna

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  1. Colin P. Sweeney
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Correspondence to Marta A. Jarzyna.

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Sweeney, C.P., Jarzyna, M.A. Assessing the Synergistic Effects of Land Use and Climate Change on Terrestrial Biodiversity: Are Generalists Always the Winners?. Curr Landscape Ecol Rep 7, 41–48 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40823-022-00073-8

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