Stochastic demography for an increasingly variable world

Both the means and the variances of such important environmental variables as growing-season temperature and rainfall are projected to increase in many regions over the 21st century. While effects on organisms of changes in mean conditions have often been anticipated, the potential effects of increasing variability have been relatively neglected. We propose a Stochastic Demography Working Group to assess how increasing environmental variability is likely to impact populations of plants and animals. Using unpublished demographic data for a diverse set of taxa and new theoretical tools developed by group members, we will compare the effects of changes in the means vs. the variances of environmental variables, as well as the pattern of sensitivity to environmental variability across species, life histories, and habitats. In addition, we will ask whether the demographic processes that most influence population growth are the least sensitive to environmental variation, a pattern that has been observed in the relatively small number of species previously tested and that would serve to buffer populations against increasing environmental variability. Our ultimate goal is to improve the ability of ecologists to forecast the consequences for the long-term viability of populations of not only overall trends in environmental conditions but also expected changes in year-to-year variability.