Climate change often requires species to shift their ranges due to changing environmental conditions. A species’ ability to adapt to changing conditions, however, depends on their ability to track suitable habitat as it changes.
One factor that can impact how a species tracks changing climate conditions is interactions with other species. For species that rely on biotic interactions for survival, dispersal, or reproduction, their ability to adapt to climate change depends on the adaptability of their interaction partner.
da Silva, J.P., Hermoso, V., Lopes-Lima, M., Miranda, R., Filipe, A.F., Sousa, R. 2024. The role of connectivity in conservation planning for species with obligatory interactions: Prospects for future climate scenarios. Global Change Biology 30: e17169.
A good example of this is freshwater mussels, which rely on interactions with fish to move to new locations. Mussel dispersal occurs by mussel larvae attaching to migratory fish hosts, meaning that mussel adaption to climate change depends on the dispersal of these fish. For species like mussels, dispersal relies on species interactions, but little research considers species interactions when planning for connectivity under climate change.
Recent research studied how climate change, connectivity, and mussel-fish interactions impact conservation planning in a river network in the Iberian Peninsula. Researchers tested how two connectivity scenarios would impact mussel-fish distributions and interactions – an unlimited dispersal scenario, where species can move freely in the river network, and an artificial barrier scenario, where species are constrained by barriers to connectivity such as dams. They used 22 years of mussel and fish locations to predict current and future (2050 and 2090) distributions under these two connectivity scenarios paired with three climate projections and five levels of conservation.
The study found that on average, artificial barriers decreased the number of mussels, fish, and mussel-fish interactions by about 5-7% from locations in the river network. Mussel-fish interactions were lost more quickly due to barriers than individual mussel or fish species, highlighting the vulnerability of species interactions to connectivity loss.
Importantly, connectivity became more significant for maintaining mussel-fish interactions as climate scenarios worsened. Under more pessimistic climate projections, artificial barriers led to fewer species and interactions compared to maintaining connectivity. This result emphasizes that connectivity can provide resilience to climate change, though the authors point out that long-term conservation success still ultimately relies on reducing emissions.
Although artificial barriers like dams reduce dispersal in rivers, often, removal of artificial barriers may not be a feasible goal. This study found that when barriers are unable to be removed, translocation of individuals can mitigate the negative impacts of artificial barriers, protecting more mussel-fish interactions. To optimize connectivity and conservation success, a combination of artificial barrier removal and translocation of individuals may be needed.
The key takeaway is that multiple factors – including species interactions, dispersal barriers, and different climate scenarios – will impact how species cope with climate change. Considering these factors will improve conservation planning under future climate conditions.
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