The direct influence of climate change on marginal populations: a review

Abstract

Climatic changes and their impact on animals and plants at the margins of their distributions are evident in terrestrial, limnic, and marine environments. I review and summarise the literature related to the direct physiological effects of climate change on marginal populations in all realms and categories. I summarise literature showing physiological and ecological emphasis but do not include studies on modelling, genetic or range shift. I found a great discrepancy in representation of each category, with the majority of studies and the greatest variety of species represented in the marine environment and the least research conducted in limnic environments. The least represented in all environments and marginalities was the plant kingdom, including algae. I identified an uneven distribution of studies around the globe with a major focus on Europe and North America. Literature results show an overarching negative impact on organismal physiology independent of a realm and/or geographic location, potentially leading to species and hence biodiversity loss, and tightly coupled with this, a loss of ecosystem functions at the respective sites. All these points may lead to unstable ecosystems and socio-economic implications at the respective sites.