Global wind patterns and the vulnerability of wind-dispersed species to climate change

The resilience of biodiversity in the face of climate change depends on gene flow and range shifts. For diverse wind-dispersed and wind-pollinated organisms, regional wind patterns could either facilitate or hinder these movements, depending on alignment of winds with spatial climate patterns. We map global variation in terrestrial wind regimes, and model how ‘windscape’ connectivity will shape inbound and outbound dispersal between sites and their predicted future climate analogs. This model predicts that wind-accessible, climatically analogous sites will be scarcer in locations such as the tropics and on the leeward sides of mountain ranges, implying that the wind-dispersed biota in these landscapes may be more vulnerable to future climate change. A case study of Pinus contorta illustrates species-specific patterns of predicted genetic rescue and range expansion facilitated by wind. This framework has implications across fields ranging from historical biogeography and landscape genetics to ecological forecasting and conservation planning. Wind patterns could enhance or hinder the ability of organisms reliant on wind-driven dispersal and pollination to shift their ranges under climate change. Organisms in the tropics and on the leeward side of mountains may be particularly at risk due to scarcity of suitable, wind-accessible sites.