ORCID Profile
0000-0002-3399-0405
Current Organisation
Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre
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Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 16-05-2020
DOI: 10.1101/2020.05.15.066662
Abstract: Paleoclimate reconstructions have enhanced our understanding of how past climates may have shaped present-day bio ersity. We hypothesize that habitat stability in historical Afrotropical refugia played a major role in the habitat suitability and persistence of chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes ) during the late Quaternary. We aimed to build a dynamic model of changing habitat suitability for chimpanzees at fine spatio-temporal scales to provide a new resource for understanding their ecology, behaviour and evolution. Afrotropics. Chimpanzee ( Pan troglodytes ), including all four subspecies ( P. t. verus, P. t. ellioti, P. t. troglodytes, P. t. schweinfurthii ). We used downscaled bioclimatic variables representing monthly temperature and precipitation estimates, historical human population density data and an extensive database of georeferenced presence points to infer chimpanzee habitat suitability at 62 paleoclimatic time periods across the Afrotropics based on ensemble species distribution models. We mapped habitat stability over time using an approach that accounts for dispersal between time periods, and compared our modelled stability estimates to existing knowledge of Afrotropical refugia. Our models cover a spatial resolution of 0.0467 degrees (approximately 5.19 km 2 grid cells) and a temporal resolution of every 1,000–4,000 years dating back to the Last Interglacial (120,000 BP). Our results show high habitat stability concordant with known historical forest refugia across Africa, but suggest that their extents are underestimated for chimpanzees. We provide the first fine-grained dynamic map of historical chimpanzee habitat suitability since the Last Interglacial which is suspected to have influenced a number of ecological-evolutionary processes, such as the emergence of complex patterns of behavioural and genetic ersity. We provide a novel resource that can be used to reveal spatio-temporally explicit insights into the role of refugia in determining chimpanzee behavioural, ecological and genetic ersity. This methodology can be applied to other taxonomic groups and geographic areas where sufficient data are available.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 16-08-2021
DOI: 10.1002/AJP.23320
Abstract: Paleoclimate reconstructions have enhanced our understanding of how past climates have shaped present‐day bio ersity. We hypothesize that the geographic extent of Pleistocene forest refugia and suitable habitat fluctuated significantly in time during the late Quaternary for chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes ). Using bioclimatic variables representing monthly temperature and precipitation estimates, past human population density data, and an extensive database of georeferenced presence points, we built a model of changing habitat suitability for chimpanzees at fine spatio‐temporal scales dating back to the Last Interglacial (120,000 BP). Our models cover a spatial resolution of 0.0467° (approximately 5.19 km 2 grid cells) and a temporal resolution of between 1000 and 4000 years. Using our model, we mapped habitat stability over time using three approaches, comparing our modeled stability estimates to existing knowledge of Afrotropical refugia, as well as contemporary patterns of major keystone tropical food resources used by chimpanzees, figs (Moraceae), and palms (Arecacae). Results show habitat stability congruent with known glacial refugia across Africa, suggesting their extents may have been underestimated for chimpanzees, with potentially up to approximately 60,000 km 2 of previously unrecognized glacial refugia. The refugia we highlight coincide with higher species richness for figs and palms. Our results provide spatio‐temporally explicit insights into the role of refugia across the chimpanzee range, forming the empirical foundation for developing and testing hypotheses about behavioral, ecological, and genetic ersity with additional data. This methodology can be applied to other species and geographic areas when sufficient data are available.
Location: United States of America
Location: Germany
No related grants have been discovered for Gaëlle Bocksberger.