Novel Climates, No-Analog Communities, and Truncated Niches

During the last deglaciation, species reshuffled into communities unlike any at present in response to climates with no modern analog. These no-analog communities and climates offer a model system for studying community assembly and disassembly in response to climate change. Many species fundamental niches are ‘truncated’ by the limits of current climates, challenging our ability to predict the effects of novel climates on community composition, ecosystem function, and biodiversity.