Climate change may drive cave spiders to extinction

Mammola, Stefano; Goodacre, Sara L.; Isaia, Marco

Abstract

Subterranean ecosystems present ideal opportunities to study mechanisms underlying responses to changes in climate because species within them are often adapted to a largely constant temperature. We have characterized the thermal conditions of caves in the Western Alps, and relate these hypogean climate data to the occurrence of Troglohyphantes troglobiontic spiders (Araneae, Linyphiidae). Our data indicate that present distributions reflect Pleistocence glaciation events and also point to specific responses as a consequence of changes in temperature. Constant temperatures recorded inside caves provide an approximation of the mean annual temperature outside, thus we extend the results to a regional scale. Ecological niche modeling is used to predict habitat suitability both in the Pleistocene and under future global warming scenarios. These analyses point toward a future decline in habitat suitability for subterranean spiders and the potential extinction of the most restricted endemic species.

Citation

Mammola, S., Goodacre, S. L., & Isaia, M. (2018). Climate change may drive cave spiders to extinction. Ecography, 41(1), 233-243. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.02902

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 18, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Apr 4, 2017
• Publication Date: 2018-01
• Deposit Date: Sep 21, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 21, 2017
• Journal: Ecography
• Print ISSN: 0906-7590
• Electronic ISSN: 1600-0587
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 41
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 233-243
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.02902
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/854395
• Publisher URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ecog.02902/full
• Additional Information: This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Mammola, S., Goodacre, S. L. and Isaia, M. (2017), Climate change may drive cave spiders to extinction. Ecography. doi:10.1111/ecog.02902, which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ecog.02902/full. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.
• Contract Date: Sep 21, 2017