Northern Michigan University NMU Commons All NMU Master's Theses Student Works 8-2018 CLIMATE DRIVEN RANGE SHIFTS OF NORTH AMERICAN SMALL MAMMALS: SPECIES’ TRAITS AND PHYLOGENETIC INFLUENCES Katie Nehiba
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.nmu.edu/theses Part of the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons Recommended Citation Nehiba, Katie, "CLIMATE DRIVEN RANGE SHIFTS OF NORTH AMERICAN SMALL MAMMALS: SPECIES’ TRAITS AND PHYLOGENETIC INFLUENCES" (2018). All NMU Master's Theses. 557. https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/557 This Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Works at NMU Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in All NMU Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of NMU Commons. For more information, please contact
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[email protected]. CLIMATE DRIVEN RANGE SHIFTS OF NORTH AMERICAN SMALL MAMMALS: SPECIES’ TRAITS AND PHYLOGENETIC INFLUENCES By Katie R. Nehiba THESIS Submitted to Northern Michigan University In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Office of Graduate Education and Research July 2018 ABSTRACT By Katie R. Nehiba Current anthropogenically-driven climate change is accelerating at an unprecedented rate. In response, species’ ranges may shift, tracking optimal climatic conditions. Species-specific differences may produce predictable differences in the extent of range shifts. I evaluated if patterns of predicted responses to climate change were strongly related to species’ taxonomic identities and/or ecological characteristics of species’ niches, elevation and precipitation. I evaluated differences in predicted range shifts in well-sampled small mammals that are restricted to North America: kangaroo rats, voles, chipmunks, and ground squirrels.