EVANS-OGDEN, L.J.; MARTIN, K.; University of British Columbia; University of British Columbia: Impacts of Elevation on Life History

High elevation habitats are ecologically challenging environments, and relatively few species have evolved life histories specifically adapted to such habitats. Ecological conditions at high elevations, such as extremes in climate, protracted breeding seasons, and fluctuations in food availability, favour reduced fecundity and increased parental care among high elevation vertebrates. In addition to alpine specialists, many vertebrates are “alpine tolerant,” spanning wide elevational ranges. The ecology and life history of alpine tolerant species at their upper elevational range limits is poorly understood. Alpine tolerant species represent ideal model systems with which to investigate how life history varies with elevation. In this symposium we review life history adaptations of high elevation specialist vertebrates, and then present results of our own research on an alpine tolerant bird species, the winter wren (Troglodytes troglodytes). We predict intraspecific changes in life history will emulate interspecific patterns, and are testing predictions from this hypothesis by quantifying reproductive parameters and individual condition over an elevation gradient at our study site in the coastal mountains of British Columbia, Canada. Geographic distributions of organisms are shifting to higher latitudes and altitudes as a result of global climate change, and habitat loss at low elevation is also pushing species upwards. Understanding how breeding parameters change with increasing elevation within a species will allow us to predict how anticipated range shifts due to climate change and low elevation habitat loss will impact wildlife populations.