Climate warming and dispersal strategies determine species persistence in a metacommunity

Abstract

Dispersal is crucial in governing species response toward climate warming. Previous studies suggest that intermediate and density-dependent dispersal enables the functioning of a metacommunity, stabilizing populations at local and regional scales. Here, we consider a spatial ecological model with temperature-dependent traits to elucidate dispersal efects in stabilizing population dynamics under climate warming. Specifcally, we analyze the efect of species temperature-dependent life-history traits on a metacommunity dynamics with diverse dispersal strategies (i.e., constant and density-dependent dispersal), tracked along with diferent dispersal rates of species (relative dispersal). At low and intermediate temperatures, diferent dispersal strategies synchronize or desynchronize the population dynamics depending upon dispersal rates. However, high temperatures completely synchronize the population trailing constant dispersal, weakening the stabilizing dynamics. Furthermore, density-dependent dispersal strongly afects the stability of metacommunity at high temperatures by increasing or decreasing spatial synchrony depending on dispersal rates. In metacommunities with many patches, conditional upon temperature, species abundance exhibits coexistence of synchronous and asynchronous oscillations, namely the chimera state. Overall, our results show that rising temperature may destabilize the dynamics by synchronizing populations; however, some dispersal mechanisms might impede the adverse outcomes.