What Happened to Biodiversity Last Time Climate Ran Amok? Duane Griffin Geography Dept
Jan 14, 2016
What Happened to BiodiversityLast Time Climate Ran Amok?
Duane GriffinGeography Dept
The carpet of flowering verdure spread over the naked crust of the Earth is unevenly woven: more tightly where the sun rises higher in the…skies, more loosely nearer the inert poles.
Alexander von Humboldt 1808
-10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 900
50
100
150
200
250
Amph. SAmph. N.Mamm. S.Logarithmic (Mamm. S.)Mamm. N.
Latitude (N or S)
Spec
ies
Why?
Species gains and losses
Tropics:Cradle
or Museum?
Cradle or Museum?
How did the diversity gradient develop?
?Glacial
Interglacial
How did the diversity gradient develop?
GlacialInterglacial
21,000 BP
25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 805
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
4521 ka
Latitude
Taxa
20,000 BP
25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 805
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Latitude
Taxa
19,000 BP
25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 805
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Latitude
Taxa
18,000 BP
25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 805
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Latitude
Taxa
17,000 BP
25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 805
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Latitude
Taxa
25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 805
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Latitude
Taxa
16,000 BP
25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 805
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Latitude
Taxa
15,000 BP
25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 805
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Latitude
Taxa
14,000 BP
25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 805
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Latitude
Taxa
13,000 BP
25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 805
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Latitude
Taxa
12,000 BP
25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 805
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Latitude
Taxa
11,000 BP
25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 805
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Latitude
Taxa
10,000 BP
25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 805
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Latitude
Taxa
9,000 BP
25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 805
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Latitude
Taxa
8,000 BP
25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 805
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Latitude
Taxa
7,000 BP
25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 805
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Latitude
Taxa
6,000 BP
25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 805
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Latitude
Taxa
5,000 BP
25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 805
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Latitude
Taxa
4,000 BP
25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 805
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Latitude
Taxa
3,000 BP
25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 805
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Latitude
Taxa
2,000 BP
25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 805
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Latitude
Taxa
1,000 BP
25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 805
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Latitude
Taxa
500 BP
25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 805
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Latitude
Taxa
0.5 ka
0 BP
25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 805
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Latitude
Taxa
How did the diversity gradient develop?
GlacialInterglacial