Data from: Climate change surpasses land use change in the contracting range boundary of a winter-adapted mammal

The effects of climate change on biodiversity has emerged as a dominant theme in conservation biology, possibly eclipsing concern over habitat loss in recent years. The extent to which this shifting focus has tracked the most eminent threats to biodiversity is not well documented. We investigated the mechanisms driving shifts in the southern range boundary of a forest and snow cover specialist, the snowshoe hare, to explore how its range boundary has responded to shifting rates of climate and land cover change over time. We found that although forest and snow cover both contributed to the historical range boundary, current duration of snow cover best explains the most recent northward shift, while forest cover has declined in relative importance. In this respect, the southern range boundary of snowshoe hares has mirrored the focus of conservation research; first habitat loss and fragmentation was the stronger environmental constraint, but climate change has now become the main threat. Projections of future range show that climate change, and associated snow cover loss, will continue to be the major driver of this species’ range loss into the future.

气候变化对生物多样性的影响已成为保护生物学（conservation biology）领域的主流研究议题，近年来其受关注程度或已超越栖息地丧失相关议题。目前尚未有充分研究佐证，这一研究重心的转移是否契合了对生物多样性最显著的威胁。本研究以森林与积雪生境特化物种雪兔（snowshoe hare）为对象，探究驱动其南部分布边界转移的机制，以明晰该物种的分布边界如何随时间推移响应气候与土地覆盖变化速率的动态调整。研究结果显示，尽管历史上森林与积雪覆盖均对其分布边界的维持起到支撑作用，但当前积雪持续时长最能解释雪兔近期的北移现象，而森林覆盖的相对重要性已有所下降。就此而言，雪兔南部分布边界的变化趋势与保护生物学的研究重心转移相呼应：早期栖息地丧失与破碎化是更主要的环境制约因素，而如今气候变化已成为核心威胁。未来分布范围的预测结果表明，气候变化及其伴随的积雪覆盖减少将持续成为该物种未来分布范围缩减的主要驱动因素。