Data Basin Climate Center: sharing and manipulating spatial information on the web

Monitoring datasets is essential to detect changes that are occurring and identify thresholds that cause them, but scientists around the world are now generating large volumes of data that vary in quality, format, supporting documentation, and accessibility. Moreover, diverse models are being run at various spatial and temporal scales to try and understand past climate variability and its impacts, generate future climate and land use scenarios, and project potential future impacts to the planet. Conservation practitioners and land managers are struggling to synthesize this wealth of information, identify relevant and usable datasets, and translate evolving science results into on-the-ground climate-aware strategies.
In partnership with ESRI and Mambo media, the Conservation Biology Institute (CBI) is developing a versatile web-based resource that centralizes usable climate change-relevant datasets and provides analytical tools to visualize, analyze, and communicate findings for practical applications. To illustrate its capability to store, manipulate, and derive relevant conclusions to users, we present three examples of projects involving scientists and managers that are part of the Climate Center of Data Basin (http://www.databasin.org): a conservation project in the Puget Sound area of Washington State, a climate change impacts project in California, a North American project looking at climate change impacts on Canada lynx. We conclude by showing the use of this new web tool in workshops that bring together scientists and practitioners, allowing all to access the data and develop more effective management strategies

Genetic and Maternal Determinants of Effective Dispersal: The Effect of Sire Genotype and Size at Birth in Side-Blotched Lizards

We assessed genetic factors on progeny dispersal due to sire color morph genotypes in a field pedigree and lab crosses, and we measured maternal effects by studying both natural and experimentally induced egg size variation. Progeny were released into nature upon hatching, but we recorded dispersal distance at maturity, which reflects effective dispersal after viability selection has run its course. Progeny dispersal was significantly affected by sire genotype. Progeny from orange sires dispersed the farthest. Progeny from blue sires dispersed intermediate distances. Progeny from yellow sires were the most philopatric. Sire genotype effects interacted with egg size. In particular, enlarged progeny from orange sires dispersed farther, while enlarged progeny from yellow sires were more philopatric. Progeny from blue sires were unaffected by egg size manipulations. Egg manipulations and natural variation generally had concordant effects indicative of causation. However, asymmetry of gigantization and miniaturization on progeny dispersal from some sire genotypes suggest the involvement of maternal factors besides egg size. Results of laboratory crosses with progeny released into nature confirmed key sire genotype effects and identified additional maternal effects that modulated dispersal as a function of progeny gender. We discuss the adaptive implications of progeny dispersal in the context of male (rock‐paper‐scissors) and female strategies (r‐ and K‐density cycle) that are associated with color morphs

Data Basin Climate Center: sharing and manipulating spatial information on the web

Monitoring datasets is essential to detect changes that are occurring and identify thresholds that cause them, but scientists around the world are now generating large volumes of data that vary in quality, format, supporting documentation, and accessibility. Moreover, diverse models are being run at various spatial and temporal scales to try and understand past climate variability and its impacts, generate future climate and land use scenarios, and project potential future impacts to the planet. Conservation practitioners and land managers are struggling to synthesize this wealth of information, identify relevant and usable datasets, and translate evolving science results into on-the-ground climate-aware strategies.
In partnership with ESRI and Mambo media, the Conservation Biology Institute (CBI) is developing a versatile web-based resource that centralizes usable climate change-relevant datasets and provides analytical tools to visualize, analyze, and communicate findings for practical applications. To illustrate its capability to store, manipulate, and derive relevant conclusions to users, we present three examples of projects involving scientists and managers that are part of the Climate Center of Data Basin (http://www.databasin.org): a conservation project in the Puget Sound area of Washington State, a climate change impacts project in California, a North American project looking at climate change impacts on Canada lynx. We conclude by showing the use of this new web tool in workshops that bring together scientists and practitioners, allowing all to access the data and develop more effective management strategies

Quantifying Climate-Wise Connectivity across a Topographically Diverse Landscape

Climate-wise connectivity is essential to provide species access to suitable habitats in the future, yet we lack a consistent means of quantifying climate adaptation benefits of habitat linkages. Species range shifts to cooler climates have been widely observed, suggesting we should protect pathways providing access to cooler locations. However, in topographically diverse regions, the effects of elevation, seasonality, and proximity to large water bodies are complex drivers of biologically relevant temperature gradients. Here, we identify potential terrestrial and riparian linkages and their cooling benefit using mid-century summer and winter temperature extremes for interior coastal ranges in Northern California. It is rare for the same area to possess both terrestrial and riparian connectivity value. Our analysis reveals distinct differences in the magnitude and orientation of cooling benefits between the summer maximum and winter minimum temperatures provided by the linkages we delineated for the area. The cooling benefits for both linkage types were maximized to the west during summer, but upslope and to the northeast during winter. The approach we employ here provides an improved method to prioritize climate-wise connectivity and promote landscape resilience for topographically diverse regions

Genetic and Maternal Determinants of Effective Dispersal: The Effect of Sire Genotype and Size at Birth in Side-Blotched Lizards

We assessed genetic factors on progeny dispersal due to sire color morph genotypes in a field pedigree and lab crosses, and we measured maternal effects by studying both natural and experimentally induced egg size variation. Progeny were released into nature upon hatching, but we recorded dispersal distance at maturity, which reflects effective dispersal after viability selection has run its course. Progeny dispersal was significantly affected by sire genotype. Progeny from orange sires dispersed the farthest. Progeny from blue sires dispersed intermediate distances. Progeny from yellow sires were the most philopatric. Sire genotype effects interacted with egg size. In particular, enlarged progeny from orange sires dispersed farther, while enlarged progeny from yellow sires were more philopatric. Progeny from blue sires were unaffected by egg size manipulations. Egg manipulations and natural variation generally had concordant effects indicative of causation. However, asymmetry of gigantization and miniaturization on progeny dispersal from some sire genotypes suggest the involvement of maternal factors besides egg size. Results of laboratory crosses with progeny released into nature confirmed key sire genotype effects and identified additional maternal effects that modulated dispersal as a function of progeny gender. We discuss the adaptive implications of progeny dispersal in the context of male (rock-paper-scissors) and female strategies (r- and K-density cycle) that are associated with color morphs.

Density cycles and an offspring quantity and quality game driven by natural selection

A long-standing hypothesis posits that natural selection can favour two female strategies when density cycles. At low density, females producing many smaller progeny are favoured when the intrinsic rate of increase, r, governs population growth. At peak density, females producing fewer, high-quality, progeny are favoured when the carrying capacity, K, is exceeded and the population crashes. Here we report on the first example of a genetic r versus K selection game that promotes stable population cycles in lizards. Decade-long fitness studies and game theory demonstrated that two throat-colour morphs were refined by selection in which the strength of natural selection varied with density. Orange-throated females, r strategists, produced many eggs and were favoured at low density. Conversely, yellow-throated females, K strategists, produced large eggs and were favoured at high density. Progeny size should also be under negative frequency-dependent selection in that large progeny will have a survival advantage when rare, but the advantage disappears when they become common. We confirmed this prediction by seeding field plots with rare and common giant hatchlings. Thus, intrinsic causes of frequency- and density-dependent selection promotes an evolutionary game with two-generation oscillations