TY - CONF

T1 - Rates and patterns of hybridisation in baboons (genus Papio) under different degrees of anthropogenic climate change

AU - Fernandes, Ana

AU - Gomes, Laura

AU - Hill, Sarah E.

AU - Winder, Isabelle C.

N1 - Poster presentation cancelled due to coronavirus; abstracts published in Primate Eye instead.

PY - 2020/4

Y1 - 2020/4

N2 - Anthropogenic climate change occurring as a result of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions produced by human activity has already had substantial impacts on the diversity and distributions of species. Anthropogenic habitat fragmentation also leads to loss of genetic diversity, population isolation and restructuring. The genus Papio (baboons) is a diverse group comprising six species which together occupy most of sub-Saharan Africa. These species differ in their morphology, but their reproductive isolation is incomplete, with ongoing hybridisation at the borders between most pairs of species. Recent work on baboon ecology and biogeography suggests that even some of these seemingly flexible species are in fact at risk of habitat loss as climates change, and may shift their ranges in response to both climate change and other anthropogenic impacts. In this study, we used localities for all 6 species of baboon together with high-resolution data on bioclimatic variables, altitude and vegetation to construct species distribution models (SDMs). SDMs were run under current and future conditions, with future models based on three General Circulation Models (MIROC-ESM, CCSM4 and HadGEM2-ES) under four Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP8.5, 6.0. 4.5 and 2.6) for 2070 to explore a range of different possible futures. We use these models to determine how climate change will affect the size and shape of zones of overlap between the ranges of adjacent Papio baboon taxa and calculate the proportion of each species’ range that it will share with adjacent congeners with whom it may hybridise. This work provides valuable new insights into how patterns of hybridisation might shift under different degrees and types of climate change, and has clear conservation relevance, especially if we wish to preserve existing species as they currently are.

AB - Anthropogenic climate change occurring as a result of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions produced by human activity has already had substantial impacts on the diversity and distributions of species. Anthropogenic habitat fragmentation also leads to loss of genetic diversity, population isolation and restructuring. The genus Papio (baboons) is a diverse group comprising six species which together occupy most of sub-Saharan Africa. These species differ in their morphology, but their reproductive isolation is incomplete, with ongoing hybridisation at the borders between most pairs of species. Recent work on baboon ecology and biogeography suggests that even some of these seemingly flexible species are in fact at risk of habitat loss as climates change, and may shift their ranges in response to both climate change and other anthropogenic impacts. In this study, we used localities for all 6 species of baboon together with high-resolution data on bioclimatic variables, altitude and vegetation to construct species distribution models (SDMs). SDMs were run under current and future conditions, with future models based on three General Circulation Models (MIROC-ESM, CCSM4 and HadGEM2-ES) under four Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP8.5, 6.0. 4.5 and 2.6) for 2070 to explore a range of different possible futures. We use these models to determine how climate change will affect the size and shape of zones of overlap between the ranges of adjacent Papio baboon taxa and calculate the proportion of each species’ range that it will share with adjacent congeners with whom it may hybridise. This work provides valuable new insights into how patterns of hybridisation might shift under different degrees and types of climate change, and has clear conservation relevance, especially if we wish to preserve existing species as they currently are.

M3 - Abstract

T2 - PSGB Spring Meeting 2020

Y2 - 23 April 2020 through 24 April 2020

ER -