Abstract/Summary

Species redistribution due to climate change poses significant challenges for biodiversity conservation. Investigation of species’ shifts requires biological records; however, we have limited information on how different sources vary and whether novel approaches which employ data from social media offer any new insights. While Species Distribution Models (SDMs) are often employed to project species’ distributions under the assumption of niche conservatism, that a species’ niche will remain broadly consistent over time, this assumption has rarely been tested during periods of climate change. Although the environmental consequences of species redistribution are recognised, there is no established framework to assess these impacts; frameworks from invasion biology could provide some insight, however, this has never been tested in practice. This research addresses these key areas to provide crucial advancements to the field: to improve our understanding of the complementarity between different types of biological recording, test whether species consistently track climate changes to maintain their niche and evaluate the applicability of invasion frameworks for assessing impacts of climate-tracking species. A case study of the Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens) emphasises the importance of integrating diverse data types when determining species changing distributions, with observations from Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr broadening the geographic scope of occurrences and more fully capturing species’ habitat requirements. Several Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) exhibited temporal inconsistencies in their realised niche during a period of recent climate change, contradicting assumptions of niche conservatism with important implications for the application of SDMs. Finally, the applicability of invasion frameworks for climate-tracking species is demonstrated, revealing both negative and positive ecological impacts of Odonata and Hymenoptera (wasps, bees, ants, and sawflies) species shifting due to climate change. These findings provide insight for conservation and management which must adapt to the uncertainty of species future distributions and the associated ecological impacts.