Understanding how species and commu

Understanding how species and communities respond to
changing climates is essential for predicting the biological
consequences of regional and global environmental change
(Davis et al. 1998). One potential approach to this
problem draws on the fossil record of range extensions
and local extinctions in response to Pleistocene glacialinterglacial
cycles, well-documented in groups ranging
from terrestrial plants, mammals and insects to marine
mollusks and ®shes (Valentine & Jablonski 1993; Elias
1994; FAUNMAP 1996; Roy et al. 1996; Jackson et al.
2000). This record can be used to pinpoint ecological or
life history traits that impose or permit greater variability
in geographical ranges of some species relative to others
in the same community, an important consideration for
the stability of ecologically and economically important
species associations.