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We make a case for "planetary computing" -- infrastructure to handle the ingestion, transformation, analysis and publication of global data products for furthering environmental science and enabling better informed policy-making. We draw on our experiences as a team of computer scientists working with environmental scientists on forest carbon and biodiversity preservation, and classify existing solutions by their flexibility in scalably processing geospatial data, and also how well they support building trust in the results via traceability and reproducibility. We identify research gaps in the intersection of computing and environmental science around how to handle continuously changing datasets that are often collected across decades and require careful access control rather than being fully open access.

Contains fulltext : 234218.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)

Contains fulltext : 234218.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)

Climatic niches describe the climatic conditions in which species can persist. Shifts in climatic niches have been observed to coincide with major climatic change, suggesting that species adapt to new conditions. We test the relationship between rates of climatic niche evolution and paleoclimatic conditions through time for 65 Old-World flycatcher species (Aves: Muscicapidae). We combine niche quantification for all species with dated phylogenies to infer past changes in the rates of niche evolution for temperature and precipitation niches. Paleoclimatic conditions were inferred independently using two datasets: a paleoelevation reconstruction and the mammal fossil record. We find changes in climatic niches through time, but no or weak support for a relationship between niche evolution rates and rates of paleoclimatic change for both temperature and precipitation niche and for both reconstruction methods. In contrast, the inferred relationship between climatic conditions and niche evolution rates depends on paleoclimatic reconstruction method: rates of temperature niche evolution are significantly negatively related to absolute temperatures inferred using the paleoelevation model but not those reconstructed from the fossil record. We suggest that paleoclimatic change might be a weak driver of climatic niche evolution in birds and highlight the need for greater integration of different paleoclimate reconstructions.

The question of whether migratory birds track a specific climatic niche by seasonal movements has important implications for understanding the evolution of migration, the factors affecting species' distributions, and the responses of migrants to climate change. Despite much research, previous studies of bird migration have produced mixed results. However, whether migrants track climate is only one half of the question, the other being why residents remain in the same geographic range year-round. We provide a literature overview and test the hypothesis of seasonal niche tracking by evaluating seasonal climatic niche overlap across 437 migratory and resident species from eight clades of passerine birds. Seasonal climatic niches were based on a new global dataset of breeding and nonbreeding ranges. Overlap between climatic niches was quantified using ordination methods. We compared niche overlap of migratory species to two null expectations, (a) a scenario in which they do not migrate and (b) in comparison with the overlap experienced by closely related resident species, while controlling for breeding location and range size. Partly in accordance with the hypothesis of niche tracking, we found that the overlap of breeding versus nonbreeding climatic conditions in migratory species was greater than the overlap they would experience if they did not migrate. However, this was only true for migrants breeding outside the tropics and only relative to the overlap species would experience if they stayed in the breeding range year-round. In contrast to the hypothesis of niche tracking, migratory species experienced lower seasonal climatic niche overlap than resident species, with significant differences between tropical and nontropical species. Our study suggests that in seasonal nontropical environments migration away from the breeding range may serve to avoid seasonally harsh climate; however, different factors may drive seasonal movements in the climatically more stable trop

The term climatic niche refers to the climatic conditions within which a species can maintain a stable population. The quantification of the climatic niche from distribution data provides insight into how individual species relate to the environment. However, owing to the speed of current environmental changes, the development of models that apply to whole ecosystems is necessary to effectively assess the impact of climate change and inform conservation. Furthermore, as species adapt to new climatic conditions, their climatic niches can change. It is thus important to study climatic niches at evolutionary timescales. To this end, a macroecological and evolutionary approach in which ecological systems are studied at large taxonomic, spatial or temporal scales is required. However, for studies adopting this approach to make meaningful comparisons, climatic niches must be quantified in a consistent manner. One important factor influencing the study of niche occupancy and quantification is that the distributions of species and climatic conditions are dynamic. As ~20% of species are migratory, birds provide an interesting group in which to study climatic niches. Until this thesis, a database of migratory behaviour across birds did not exist, so the impact of migration on both the occupation of niche space by birds, and the accurate, comparable quantification of niche space was unclear. Understanding the seasonal dynamics of climatic niches in migratory birds is important for understanding the evolution of migration and the factors affecting species’ geographic distributions. Secondly, a major assumption of the majority of studies projecting species distributions in response to climate change is that the climatic niche remains unchanged. In the context of climate change, it is important to know whether species are able to cope with new climatic conditions by adapting their climatic niche. A lack of spatially resolved climatic data for the deep past has, until now, preclud, Die klimatische Nische beschreibt die klimatischen Bedingungen, unter denen eine Art eine stabile Population aufrechterhalten kann. Die Quantifizierung von Klimanischen ist ein wichtiges Werkzeug, um tiefergehende Einsichten in individuelle Art-Umwelt Beziehungen zu erlangen, um den Effekt des Klimawandels effektiv zu bewerten, und um Arten- und Naturschutz zu unterstützen. Ein makroökologischer Ansatz ist von Vorteil um Ökosysteme über ein breites taxonomisches, geographisches und zeitliches Spektrum zu untersuchen, und damit die klimatischen Nischen vieler Arten auf eine konsistente Art und Weise zu quantifizieren und vergleichen. Im Kontext des aktuellen Klimawandels ist es wichtig zu verstehen, ob Arten in der Lage sind ihre Klima-nische anzupassen. Viele bisherige Vorhersagen über klimawandelbedingte Veränderungen von Artverbreitungen beruhen auf der Annahme, dass die klimatische Nische einer Art konstant ist. Allerdings ist bekannt, dass Arten ihre klimatischen Präferenzen auf unterschiedlichen Zeitskalen verändern - sowohl über kurze (ökologische) als auch evolutionäre Zeiträume. Dies ist ein wichtiger, aber oft missachteter Faktor für die Nischenquantifizierung. Ein gutes Beispiel für solche ökologische Dynamiken sind Zugvögel, die etwa 20% aller Vogelarten ausmachen. Sie stellen eine interessante, aber auch herausfordernde Artengruppe für die Untersuchung klimatischer Nischen dar. Des Weiteren ist es wichtig klimatische Nischen über evolutionäre Zeiträume zu untersuchen, um die Prozesse zu verstehen, die Evolution, Diversifikation und Extinktion unterliegen, da sich Klimanischen mit der Anpassung einzelner Arten an neue klimatische Gegebenheiten ebenfalls wandeln. Bislang hat ein Mangel an geographisch expliziten Daten über terrestrische Umwelt-bedingungen durch evolutionäre Zeiträume eine explizite Überprüfung dieser Zusammenhänge verhindert. Das übergeordnete Ziel dieser Dissertation war es, die ökologische (d.h. saisonale) und evolutionäre Dynamik klimat

The question of whether migratory birds track a specific climatic niche by seasonal movements has important implications for understanding the evolution of migration, the factors affecting species' distributions, and the responses of migrants to climate change. Despite much research, previous studies of bird migration have produced mixed results. However, whether migrants track climate is only one half of the question, the other being why residents remain in the same geographic range year-round. We provide a literature overview and test the hypothesis of seasonal niche tracking by evaluating seasonal climatic niche overlap across 437 migratory and resident species from eight clades of passerine birds. Seasonal climatic niches were based on a new global dataset of breeding and nonbreeding ranges. Overlap between climatic niches was quantified using ordination methods. We compared niche overlap of migratory species to two null expectations, (a) a scenario in which they do not migrate and (b) in comparison with the overlap experienced by closely related resident species, while controlling for breeding location and range size. Partly in accordance with the hypothesis of niche tracking, we found that the overlap of breeding versus nonbreeding climatic conditions in migratory species was greater than the overlap they would experience if they did not migrate. However, this was only true for migrants breeding outside the tropics and only relative to the overlap species would experience if they stayed in the breeding range year-round. In contrast to the hypothesis of niche tracking, migratory species experienced lower seasonal climatic niche overlap than resident species, with significant differences between tropical and nontropical species. Our study suggests that in seasonal nontropical environments migration away from the breeding range may serve to avoid seasonally harsh climate; however, different factors may drive seasonal movements in the climatically more stable t

The question of whether migratory birds track a specific climatic niche by seasonal movements has important implications for understanding the evolution of migration, the factors affecting species' distributions, and the responses of migrants to climate change. Despite much research, previous studies of bird migration have produced mixed results. However, whether migrants track climate is only one half of the question, the other being why residents remain in the same geographic range year-round. We provide a literature overview and test the hypothesis of seasonal niche tracking by evaluating seasonal climatic niche overlap across 437 migratory and resident species from eight clades of passerine birds. Seasonal climatic niches were based on a new global dataset of breeding and nonbreeding ranges. Overlap between climatic niches was quantified using ordination methods. We compared niche overlap of migratory species to two null expectations, (a) a scenario in which they do not migrate and (b) in comparison with the overlap experienced by closely related resident species, while controlling for breeding location and range size. Partly in accordance with the hypothesis of niche tracking, we found that the overlap of breeding versus nonbreeding climatic conditions in migratory species was greater than the overlap they would experience if they did not migrate. However, this was only true for migrants breeding outside the tropics and only relative to the overlap species would experience if they stayed in the breeding range year-round. In contrast to the hypothesis of niche tracking, migratory species experienced lower seasonal climatic niche overlap than resident species, with significant differences between tropical and nontropical species. Our study suggests that in seasonal nontropical environments migration away from the breeding range may serve to avoid seasonally harsh climate; however, different factors may drive seasonal movements in the climatically more stable t