Conservation and Global
Climate Change
| 1. | Introduction |
| 2. | How climate is changing |
| 3. | Environmental responses to climate change |
| 4. | Consequences of climate change for conservation |
| 5. | The missing links |
One of the most challenging issues for conservation during the coming decades will be preserving biodiversity in the face of climate change. It has become increasingly apparent that the climate is changing because of human activities—the chemical composition of the atmosphere has been modified, record-breaking temperatures are becoming more common on an annual basis, and polar ice caps are melting. Ecosystems will respond to these changes in a variety of ways; some may be deemed beneficial and others detrimental. The question for ecologists and conservationists then becomes how do we conserve ecosystems, ecological processes, and species under conditions of a changing climate?
assisted migration. Directed dispersal or translocation of organisms across the landscape
bioclimatic envelope models. Models that use statistical methods to correlate species occurrences with environmental predictor variables to define a species’ environmental niche and predict the species’ occurrence across a broader landscape
greenhouse gases (GHGs). Gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, tropospheric ozone, or chloroflorocarbons that absorb solar radiation and reflect it back down to earth, creating a “greenhouse effect” that warms the earth’s surface
interannual. Between years
lake turnover. The mixing of deep anoxic (oxygenpoor) and shallow oxygen-rich water in lakes that occurs in fall and spring when water hits the threshold temperature of 4°C
oceanic conveyor belt. Ocean circulation pattern driven by temperature and salinity gradients across the globe that moves warm and cold water around the globe, moderating temperatures and salinity patterns
phenological changes. Timing of life cycle events that are related to seasonality of the organism such as hibernation, bud burst, flowering, egg laying, etc.
Quaternary period. The geologic time period beginning roughly 1.8 million years before present
stepping stones. Small, unconnected portions of suitable habitat that an organism uses to move from one place to another
trophic cascades. Changes at one level of the food chain that percolate through many other levels of the food chain, causing both direct and indirect effects on species composition
vagility. An organism’s ability to move through the landscape
In this chapter, we describe how climate is changing, including both paleoclimatic and anthropogenic changes. We then discuss how the Earth is responding, both from an abiotic perspective (including atmospheric changes, temperature fluctuations, and ocean circulation patterns) and from the perspective of biotic communities. We describe some of the research approaches that have been used to examine and anticipate the types of responses of ecological communities to climate change and how scientists might prioritize and manage areas for conservation under conditions of a changing climate. Finally, we end with a discussion of
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Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information:
Book title: The Princeton Guide to Ecology.
Contributors: Simon A. Levin - Editor.
Publisher: Princeton University Press.
Place of publication: Princeton, NJ.
Publication year: 2012.
Page number: 557.
This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.
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