Life history consequences of climate change in hibernating mammals: A review

Climatic shifts to warmer and often drier conditions are challenging terrestrial species worldwide. These shifts are occurring more rapidly at higher elevations and latitudes, likely causing disproportionate effects to mammalian hibernators there. While there is some information about how these species’ ranges are responding to climatic shifts, we lack an understanding of how climate components are affecting species’ life history variation, which is key to individual success and population-level resilience. We reviewed the literature to identify the direction of life history responses to climate change in mammalian hibernators along three axes: latitudinal, elevational, and temporal. We found 39 studies involving 27 species that reported climate effects on our four target life history traits – phenology, body mass/condition and growth, reproduction, and survival. We found warmer temperatures are advancing hibernator phenology and increasing reproductive success. By contrast, warming and...