Microclimate predicts within-season distribution dynamics of montane forest birds

Aim
Climate changes are anticipated to have pervasive negative effects on biodiversity and are expected to necessitate widespread range shifts or contractions. Such projections are based upon the assumptions that (1) species respond primarily to broad-scale climatic regimes, or (2) that variation in climate at fine spatial scales is less relevant at coarse spatial scales. However, in montane forest landscapes, high degrees of microclimate variability could influence occupancy dynamics and distributions of forest species. Using high-resolution bird survey and under-canopy air temperature data, we tested the hypothesis that the high vagility of most forest bird species combined with the heterogeneous thermal regime of mountain landscapes would enable them to adjust initial settlement decisions to track their thermal niches.
Location
Western Cascade Mountains, Oregon, USA.
Methods
We used dynamic occupancy models to test the degree to which microclimate affects the distribution patter...