Data from: Keeping pace with climate change: stage-structured moving-habitat models

Life cycles can limit the abilities of species to track changing climatic
conditions. We combined age or stage structure and a moving-habitat model
to explore the effects of life history on the persistence of populations
in the presence of climate change. We studied four dissimilar plant
species in moving patches and found that (1) population growth rates, (2)
elasticities with respect to the survival (stasis and shrinkage)
components of the projection matrix, and (3) the evenness of the
elasticities with respect to the components of the projection matrix all
decreased as we increased the translational speeds of the patches. In
addition, the value of long-distance dispersal increased with patch speed
for three of the four species. Our analyses confirm that rapid growth,
high fecundity, and long-distance dispersal can benefit species in moving
patches. Thus, species with long generation times and limited dispersal
ability are especially vulnerable to habitat movement. Stage-structured
moving-habitat models can easily incorporate spatial complexity and can
help us predict the effects of shifting climatic conditions.