Photic Barriers to Poleward Range-shifts

Abstract

With climate warming, organisms are shifting their ranges towards the poles, tracking their optimal thermal environments. Day-length, the driver of daily and annual timing, is, however, fixed by latitude and date. Timing and photoreception mechanisms adapted to ancestral photic environments may restrict range-shift capacity, resulting in photic barriers to range-shifts.

Keywords: biological rhythm; global climate change; phenology; photoperiod; photoreception; range-shift.