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Climate change may drive cave spiders to extinction

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

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Authors

Stefano Mammola

SARA GOODACRE sara.goodacre@nottingham.ac.uk
Professor of Evolutionary Biology and Genetics

Marco Isaia



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 Mar 28, 2024
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.

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