Existing comment:
Modern temperatures: implications for biodiversity
Temperature dependence of fitness varies with latitude.
What the chart is showing is that species living in different parts of the world have reproduction capabilities that vary with the temperature. In the temperate zones, the relative fitness for reproduction is a fairly wide curve and most of the species live about 5 degrees centigrade below where that peak performance happens. In the tropics, the curve is much thinner and they live within about 3 degrees centigrade below where the peak performance happens. Unfortunately, the temperature increases are happening mostly in the tropics and estimates say temperatures there will increase about 5 degrees due to warming. This will put most of the species there into a population crash. |