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  • Matters Arising
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Spatial scale and the synchrony of ecological disruption

Nature volume 599, pages E8–E10 (2021)Cite this article

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Matters Arising to this article was published on 24 November 2021

The Original Article was published on 08 April 2020

arising from C. H. Trisos et al. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2189-9 (2020)

In a rapidly changing global climate, the tempo and geography of threats to biodiversity and ecosystem function must guide regional responses. Trisos et al.1 offer alarming predictions of “sudden and devastating effects on local biodiversity and ecosystem services” from the nearly simultaneous exposure of local assemblages to “climate conditions beyond their realized niche limits”. Here I suggest that both the synchrony of exposure of co-occurring species to intolerable climate regimes and the consequent synchrony and spatial extent of sudden, devastating effects—as envisioned in their study—may be exaggerated. Although threats to biodiversity and human well-being from climate change are urgent and real2, predicting their timing and extent requires a finer spatial resolution that scales with ecosystem types, geographic ranges, and regional processes and topography.

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Fig. 1: Spatial scale of terrestrial ecosystems and biogeography.
Fig. 2: Spatial scale of marine habitats and biotas.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA

    Robert K. Colwell

  2. University of Colorado Museum of Natural History, Boulder, CO, USA

    Robert K. Colwell

  3. Departmento de Ecologia, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil

    Robert K. Colwell

  4. Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen O, Denmark

    Robert K. Colwell

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  1. Robert K. Colwell
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R.K.C. developed the ideas, wrote the manuscript, and prepared the figures.

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Correspondence to Robert K. Colwell.

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Colwell, R.K. Spatial scale and the synchrony of ecological disruption. Nature 599, E8–E10 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03759-x

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