Landscapes of vertical relief, such as mountains and continental slopes, intensify ecological and climatological variation within narrow spatial windows. Seasonal vertical migrants exploit this variation during their residence in, and movements between, vertically stratified seasonal ranges. Animals in terrestrial, marine and even human-ecological systems undergo similar patterns of seasonal vertical movements. The diversity of arenas in which vertical migration evolved lends insight to the factors promoting seasonal use of landscapes of relief. Because animals must contend with both endogenous circannual rhythms and exogenous environmental seasonality, vertical migrants may be sensitive to inconsistent change across stratified seasonal ranges under climate change. To better understand how ongoing and future climatic and environmental changes are likely to impact vertical migrants, we examine vertical migration in the context of niche tracking and niche switching. Whereas niche trackers minimize variation in realized environmental conditions throughout their seasonal movements, niche switchers undergo seasonal transitions in realized niche space. These strategies mediate the relationship between migrants and their changing environment, and can be used to forecast impacts of future change and effectively conserve systems of vertical migration. Niche tracking may be hindered by inconsistent or unpredictable environmental change along a single niche axis across strata, while niche switching may be sensitive to incongruous spatiotemporal change across factors. We suggest that climate change will affect seasonal patterns in vertical environments discontinuously across time, space and strata, and that vertical migrants are likely to face additional anthropogenic threats that interact with environmental seasonality. Conservation of vertical migrants should prioritize the availability of, and facilitate movement between, stratified seasonal ranges.

中文翻译：

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救济景观中的季节性、生态位管理和垂直迁移

垂直起伏的景观，如山脉和大陆坡，在狭窄的空间窗口内加剧了生态和气候变化。季节性垂直移民在他们居住在垂直分层的季节性范围内以及在其间移动期间利用了这种变化。陆地、海洋甚至人类生态系统中的动物都会经历类似的季节性垂直运动模式。垂直迁移演变的竞技场的多样性有助于深入了解促进季节性使用救济景观的因素。由于动物必须同时应对内生的年节律和外生的环境季节性，因此垂直迁移可能对气候变化下分层季节范围内的不一致变化敏感。为了更好地了解当前和未来的气候和环境变化可能如何影响垂直迁移，我们在生态位跟踪和生态位转换的背景下研究了垂直迁移。生态位跟踪器在其季节性运动中最大限度地减少了实际环境条件的变化，而生态位切换器在已实现的生态位空间中经历了季节性过渡。这些策略调解了移民与其不断变化的环境之间的关系，可用于预测未来变化的影响并有效保护垂直迁移系统。生态位跟踪可能会受到沿单个生态位轴跨地层的不一致或不可预测的环境变化的阻碍，而生态位转换可能对跨因素的不协调时空变化很敏感。我们认为，气候变化将在时间、空间和层次上不连续地影响垂直环境中的季节性模式，并且垂直移民可能面临与环境季节性相互作用的额外人为威胁。垂直迁移的保护应优先考虑分层季节性范围的可用性并促进其间的迁移。