Species responses to climate change may be
influenced by changes in available habitat, as
well as population processes, species interactions
and interactions between demographic and
landscape dynamics. Current methods for assessing
these responses fail to provide an integrated
view of these influences because they deal with
habitat change or population dynamics, but
rarely both. In this study, we linked a time series
of habitat suitability models with spatially explicit
stochastic population models to explore
factors that influence the viability of plant
species populations under stable and changing
climate scenarios in South African fynbos, a
global biodiversity hot spot. Results indicate
that complex interactions between life history,
disturbance regime and distribution pattern
mediate species extinction risks under climate
change. Our novel mechanistic approach allows
more complete and direct appraisal of future
biotic responses than do static bioclimatic
habitat modelling approaches, and will ultimately
support development of more effective
conservation strategies to mitigate biodiversity
losses due to climate change.