Observed latitudinal shifts of four species over 25 years in Britain

Figure Created 11 Oct 2012 Published 20 Nov 2012 Last modified 17 Nov 2017
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This graph shows the observed latitudinal shifts of the northern range boundaries of species within 4 exemplar taxonomic groups, studied over 25 years in Britain. (A) Spiders (85 species), (B) ground beetles (59 species), (C) butterflies (29 species), and (D) grasshoppers and allies (22 species). Positive latitudinal shifts indicate movement toward the north (pole); negative values indicate shifts toward the south (Equator). Horizontal lines mark the Median, boxes the 25 to 75 % quartile and whisker the range (up to 1.5 times the interquartile distance). Open Circles are outliers.

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Latitudnal shifts were comparisons of northern range margins between two study periods; study durations were taken as the intervals between the mid-points of each period.

Chen, I.-C., Hill, J.K., Ohlemüller, R., Roy, D.B. & Thomas, C.D. (2011) Rapid Range Shifts of Species Associated with High Levels of Climate Warming. Science, 333, 1024-1026.

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km

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EEA standard re-use policy: unless otherwise indicated, re-use of content on the EEA website for commercial or non-commercial purposes is permitted free of charge, provided that the source is acknowledged (https://www.eea.europa.eu/legal/copyright). Copyright holder: European Environment Agency (EEA).
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Temporal coverage: 

spiders 1965-1975 to 1990-2000, ground beetles 1965-1975 to 1990-2000, butterflies 1970-1982 to 1995-1999, grasshoppers 1960-1970 to 1985-1995

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Based on data

Rapid Range Shifts of Species Associated with High Levels of Climate Warming The distributions of many terrestrial organisms are currently shifting in latitude or elevation in response to changing climate. Using a meta-analysis, we estimated that the distributions of species have recently shifted to higher elevations at a median rate of 11.0 meters per decade, and to higher latitudes at a median rate of 16.9 kilometers per decade. These rates are approximately two and three times faster than previously reported. The distances moved by species are greatest in studies showing the highest levels of warming, with average latitudinal shifts being generally sufficient to track temperature changes. However, individual species vary greatly in their rates of change, suggesting that the range shift of each species depends on multiple internal species traits and external drivers of change. Rapid average shifts derive from a wide diversity of responses by individual species.

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