Abstract
In polar environments, a lack of empirical knowledge about biodiversity prompts reliance on species distribution models to predict future change, yet these ignore the role of biotic interactions including the role of long past human exploitation. To explore how mammals of extreme elevation respond to glacial recession and past harvest, we combined our fieldwork with remote sensing and used analyses of ~60 expeditions from 1850–1925 to represent baseline conditions for wildlife before heavy exploitation on the Tibetan Plateau. Focusing on endangered wild yaks (Bos mutus), we document female changes in habitat use across time whereupon they increasingly relied on steeper post-glacial terrain, and currently have a 20x greater dependence on winter snow patches than males. Our twin findings—that the sexes of a cold-adapted species respond differently to modern climate forcing and long-past exploitation—indicate that effective conservation planning will require knowledge of the interplay between past and future if we will assure persistence of the region's biodiversity.
Highlights
In polar environments, a lack of empirical knowledge about biodiversity prompts reliance on species distribution models to predict future change, yet these ignore the role of biotic interactions including the role of long past human exploitation
We assess synergies between climate-mediated hydrological regimes and human-mediated legacy effects on habitat use in a high elevation extremist, the endangered wild yak[12], which serves as a totem for the Tibetan Plateau
We evaluated whether peri-glacial zones represent differentially important habitats to yak, by testing two predictions - that overall yak densities will be greater in and around these high elevation locales, and that females, due to their immediate investment in offspring, should select resources of greater moisture and nutritional quality[13,14,15,16]
Summary
A lack of empirical knowledge about biodiversity prompts reliance on species distribution models to predict future change, yet these ignore the role of biotic interactions including the role of long past human exploitation. Despite broad global interest in social and economic consequences of rapid warming and glacial recession[3], little attention has focused on how climate change will affect the region’s extreme altitudinal biodiversity[4] This is puzzling because endemic cold-adapted species are numerous, recognized as cultural icons, play important ecological roles[5], and can be models for parallel climate challenges in the Arctic[6,7]. Where legacy effects modulate changes, our understanding of ecological responses to environmental conditions will be incomplete unless accounting for both patterns forced by climate and putatively by humans Approaches such as species distribution or habitat modeling that ignore biotic interactions are often poor predictors of future responses[11]. We assess synergies between climate-mediated hydrological regimes and human-mediated legacy effects on habitat use in a high elevation extremist, the endangered wild yak[12], which serves as a totem for the Tibetan Plateau
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
