scholarly journals Projected climate change threatens significant range contraction of Cochemiea halei (Cactaceae), an island endemic, serpentine‐adapted plant species at risk of extinction

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (23) ◽  
pp. 13211-13224
Author(s):  
Peter B. Breslin ◽  
Martin F. Wojciechowski ◽  
Fabio Albuquerque
2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 450-462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen E. Bagne ◽  
Megan M. Friggens ◽  
Sharon J. Coe ◽  
Deborah M. Finch

Abstract Species conservation often prioritizes attention on a small subset of “special status” species at high risk of extinction, but actions based on current lists of special status species may not effectively moderate biodiversity loss if climate change alters threats. Assessments of climate change vulnerability may provide a method to enhance identification of species at risk of extinction. We compared climate change vulnerability and lists of special status species to examine the adequacy of current lists to represent species at risk of extinction in the coming decades. The comparison was made for terrestrial vertebrates in a regionally important management area of the southwestern United States. Many species not listed as special status were vulnerable to increased extinction risk with climate change. Overall, 74% of vulnerable species were not included in lists of special status and omissions were greatest for birds and reptiles. Most special status species were identified as additionally vulnerable to climate change impacts and there was little evidence to indicate the outlook for these species might improve with climate change, which suggests that existing conservation efforts will need to be intensified. Current special status lists encompassed climate change vulnerability best if climate change was expected to exacerbate current threats, such as the loss of wetlands, but often overlooked climate-driven threats, such as exceeding physiological thresholds.


Author(s):  
Jacob P. Ziegler ◽  
James W. Roy ◽  
Matthew J. Bogard ◽  
D. Andrew R. Drake

Aquatic biota often face multiple anthropogenic threats such as river fragmentation and climate change that can contribute to high rates of aquatic species imperilment world-wide. Temperature-induced hypoxia is one under-explored mechanism that can threaten aquatic species in fragmented rivers with reduced flows. We applied ecosystem metabolism models to define the effect of water temperature on net ecosystem production (NEP) of oxygen at 12 sites of a fragmented river channel that supports three fish species at risk and experiences hypoxia. We found that water temperature and precipitation events at 75% of our sites were significantly and negatively correlated to NEP estimates and explained 28% of the variation in NEP within sites. Temperature-induced reductions in NEP at these sites likely contributed to hypoxic conditions threatening the three species at risk as NEP explained 41% of the variation in dissolved oxygen near all sites. Our results have applications for understanding drivers of hypoxic stress in fragmented watercourses, integrating water temperature-NEP effects with oxygen demands of sensitive fish species, and modeling future effects of climate change on aquatic species.


Science ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 366 (6461) ◽  
pp. 71-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brett R. Scheffers ◽  
Brunno F. Oliveira ◽  
Ieuan Lamb ◽  
David P. Edwards

Wildlife trade is a multibillion dollar industry that is driving species toward extinction. Of >31,500 terrestrial bird, mammal, amphibian, and squamate reptile species, ~24% (N = 7638) are traded globally. Trade is strongly phylogenetically conserved, and the hotspots of this trade are concentrated in the biologically diverse tropics. Using different assessment approaches, we predict that, owing to their phylogenetic replacement and trait similarity to currently traded species, future trade will affect up to 4064 additional species—totaling 11,702 species at risk of extinction from trade. Our assessment underscores the need for a strategic plan to combat trade with policies that are proactive rather than reactive, which is especially important because species can quickly transition from being safe to being endangered as humans continue to harvest and trade across the tree of life.


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