Data from: Climate change may drive cave spiders to extinction

Subterranean ecosystems present ideal opportunities to study mechanisms
underlying responses to changes in climate because species within them are
often adapted to a largely constant temperature. We have characterized the
thermal conditions of caves in the Western Alps, and related these
hypogean climate data to the occurrence of Troglohyphantes spiders
(Araneae, Linyphiidae). Our data indicated that present distributions
reflect Pleistocene glaciation events and also pointed to specific
responses as a consequence of changes in temperature. Constant
temperatures recorded inside caves provide an approximation of the mean
annual temperature outside, thus we extended the results to a regional
scale. We used ecological niche modeling to predict habitat suitability
both in the Pleistocene and under future global warming scenarios. These
analyses pointed toward a future decline in habitat suitability for
subterranean spiders and the potential extinction of the most restricted
endemic species. When compared with other species that live in confined
habitats such as islands and mountains, we expect cave species to be as
much, if not more, vulnerable to climate change.

地下生态系统为研究气候变化响应的内在机制提供了理想契机，因为其中的物种往往适应了近乎恒定的温度环境。我们对西阿尔卑斯山区洞穴的热环境特征进行了系统表征，并将这些地下气候数据集与洞蛛属（Troglohyphantes）蜘蛛（蜘蛛目，皿蛛科）的分布情况进行关联分析。研究数据显示，当前的物种分布格局反映了更新世冰川作用的影响，同时也揭示了物种对温度变化的特异性响应。洞穴内部记录的恒定温度可近似代表外部的年平均气温，因此我们将研究结果推广至区域尺度。我们采用生态位模型（ecological niche modeling），分别预测了更新世时期以及未来全球变暖情景下的栖息地适宜性。上述分析结果表明，未来地下蜘蛛的栖息地适宜性将出现下降，且分布范围最受限的特有物种存在潜在灭绝风险。与岛屿、山地等受限生境中的其他物种相比，洞穴物种即便不是更易受气候变化影响，至少也与之相当。