Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40160844›Full record

ReviewCambridge prisms. Extinction2025

The effect of climate legacies on extinction dynamics: A systematic review.

Gregor H Mathes, Catalina Pimiento, Wolfgang Kiessling, Jens-Christian Svenning, Manuel J Steinbauer

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Cambridge prisms. Extinction, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Gregor H MathesPaleontological Institute and Museum, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2788-1173
Catalina PimientoPaleontological Institute and Museum, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5320-7246
Wolfgang KiesslingGeoZentrum Nordbayern, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.
Jens-Christian SvenningCenter for Ecological Dynamics in a Novel Biosphere (ECONOVO), Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3415-0862
Manuel J SteinbauerBayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research (BayCEER), University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

One of the main objectives of ecological research is to enhance our understanding of the processes that lead to species extinction. A potentially crucial extinction pattern is the dependence of contemporary biodiversity dynamics on past climates, also known as "climate legacy". However, the general impact of climate legacy on extinction dynamics is unknown. Here, we conduct a systematic review to summarize the effect of climate legacies on extinction dynamics. We find that few works studying the relationship between extinction dynamics and climate include the potential impact of climate legacies (10%), with even fewer studies reaching beyond merely discussing them (3%). Among the studies that quantified climate legacies, six out of seven reported an improved fit of models to extinction dynamics, with most also describing substantial impacts of legacy effects on extinction risk. These include an increase in extinction risk of up to 40% when temperature changes add to a long-term trend in the same direction, as well as substantial effects on species' adaptations, population dynamics and juvenile recruitment. Various ecological processes have been identified in the literature as potential ways in which climate legacies could affect the vulnerability of modern ecosystems to anthropogenic climate change, including niche conservatism, physiological thresholds, time lags and cascading effects. Overall, we find high agreement that climate legacy is a crucial process shaping extinction dynamics. Incorporating climate legacies in biodiversity assessments could be a key step toward a better understanding of the ecological consequences arising from climate change.

Indexed as

Anthropogenic Climate ChangeBiodiversity LossClimate LegaciesEcological MechanismsExtinction Dynamics

Identifiers

PMID40160844
PMCPMC11950661

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.