RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Response to climate change is related to species traits in the Lagomorpha JF bioRxiv FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory SP 001826 DO 10.1101/001826 A1 Katie Leach A1 Ruth Kelly A1 Alison Cameron A1 W. Ian Montgomery A1 Neil Reid YR 2014 UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2014/01/14/001826.abstract AB Climate change during the last five decades has impacted on natural systems significantly and the rate of current climate change is of great concern among conservation biologists. Here, we assess the projected change in the bioclimatic envelopes of all 87 species in the mammalian order Lagomorpha under future climate using expertly validated species distribution models. Results suggest that climate change will impact more than two-thirds of Lagomorphs, with leporids (rabbits, hares and jackrabbits) likely to undertake poleward shifts with little overall change in range extent, whilst pikas are likely to show extreme shifts to higher altitudes associated with marked range declines, including the likely extinction of Kozlov’s Pika (Ochotona koslowi). Species traits were associated with predictions of change, with smaller-bodied species more likely to exhibit range contractions and elevational increases, but showing little poleward movement. Lagomorphs vulnerable to climate change require urgent conservation management to mitigate range declines and/or extinctions.