Winds of change

[PAPER] Global wind patterns and the vulnerability of wind-dispersed species to climate change

I have a paper out this month in Nature Climate Change, exploring how wind currents may facilitate or hinder species dispersal under climate change. Range shifts and gene flow toward cooler locations are essential for adaptation to climate change, and in wind-dispersed and wind-pollinated species, these processes will be influenced by the geography of wind currents.

We used a novel wind connectivity modeling framework, in combination with global data on future climate change, to assess where wind is likely to speed versus slow these adaptive processes. Our results suggest that unfavorable winds in places like the tropics and the leeward sides of mountain ranges likely mean that these locations have lower adaptive capacity.

You can find the paper online here, and a pdf here.