River conservation in a changing world: invertebrate diversity and spatial prioritisation in south-eastern coastal Australia

2011 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 300 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Turak ◽  
R. Marchant ◽  
L. A. Barmuta ◽  
J. Davis ◽  
S. Choy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Macroinvertebrate Assemblages ◽  
Considerable Uncertainty ◽  
Biodiversity Surrogates ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
River Conservation ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

Concentration of human populations with likely impacts of climate change present major challenges for river conservation in the south-eastern coastal region of Australia. Quantitative methods for spatial prioritisation of conservation actions can play a major role in meeting these challenges. We examined how these methods may be applied to help plan for potential impacts of climate change in the region, using macroinvertebrate assemblages as surrogates of river biodiversity. Environmental gradients explaining broad-scale patterns in the composition of macroinvertebrate assemblages are well represented in protected areas; however, their effectiveness for conserving river biodiversity with climate change depends on linking management inside and outside protected areas. Projected increases in temperature and sea level may be used to prioritise conservation to counter likely major impacts in high-altitude zones and the coastal fringes, whereas elsewhere, considerable uncertainty remains in the absence of better downscaled projections of rainfall. Applying such spatial prioritisations using biodiversity surrogates could help river-focussed conservation around the world.

scholarly journals Heat Waves, the New Normal: Summertime Temperature Extremes Will Impact Animals, Ecosystems, and Human Communities

Physiology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 86-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathon H. Stillman
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Heat Waves ◽  
Extreme Heat ◽  
Temperature Extremes ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
New Normal ◽  
The Past ◽  
Intense Heat ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

A consequence of climate change is the increased frequency and severity of extreme heat waves. This is occurring now as most of the warmest summers and most intense heat waves ever recorded have been during the past decade. In this review, I describe the ways in which animals and human populations are likely to respond to increased extreme heat, suggest how to study those responses, and reflect on the importance of those studies for countering the devastating impacts of climate change.

scholarly journals Can protected areas mitigate the impacts of climate change on bird's species and communities?

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 625-637 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Gaüzère ◽  
Frédéric Jiguet ◽  
Vincent Devictor
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

scholarly journals The capacity to adapt?: communities in a changing climate, environment, and economy on the northern Andaman coast of Thailand

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan Bennett ◽  
Philip Dearden ◽  
Alin Kadfak
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Adaptive Capacity ◽  
Environmental Degradation ◽  
Marine Protected Areas ◽  
Multiple Scales ◽  
Coastal Communities ◽  
Economic Opportunities ◽  
Management Interventions ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

The health and productivity of marine ecosystems, habitats, and fisheries are deteriorating on the Andaman coast of Thailand. Because of their high dependence on natural resources and proximity to the ocean, coastal communities are particularly vulnerable to climate-induced changes in the marine environment. These communities must also adapt to the impacts of management interventions and conservation initiatives, including marine protected areas, which have livelihood implications. Further, communities on the Andaman coast are also experiencing a range of new economic opportunities associated in particular with tourism and agriculture. These complex and ongoing changes require integrated assessment of, and deliberate planning to increase, the adaptive capacity of communities so that they may respond to: (1) environmental degradation and fisheries declines through effective management interventions or conservation initiatives, (2) new economic opportunities to reduce dependence on fisheries, and (3) the increasing impacts of climate change. Our results are from a mixed methods study, which used surveys and interviews to examine multiple dimensions of the adaptive capacity of seven island communities near marine protected areas on the Andaman coast of Thailand. Results show that communities had low adaptive capacity with respect to environmental degradation and fisheries declines, and to management and conservation interventions, as well as uneven levels of adaptive capacity to economic opportunities. Though communities and households were experiencing the impacts of climate change, especially storm events, changing seasons and weather patterns, and erosion, they were reacting to these changes with limited knowledge of climate change per se. We recommend interventions, in the form of policies, programs, and actions, at multiple scales for increasing the adaptive capacity of Thailand’s coastal communities to change. The analytical and methodological approach used for examining adaptive capacity could be easily modified and applied to other contexts and locales.

Valuing the impacts of climate change on protected areas in Africa

2005 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra J. Velarde ◽  
Yadvinder Malhi ◽  
Dominic Moran ◽  
Jim Wright ◽  
Salman Hussain
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

scholarly journals Recent and future threats to the Endangered Cuban toad Peltophryne longinasus: potential additive impacts of climate change and habitat loss

Oryx ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 116-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlon E. Cobos ◽  
Roberto Alonso Bosch
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Habitat Loss ◽  
Prey Availability ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
Original Design ◽  
Niche Modelling ◽  
Amphibian Species ◽  
Risk Of Predation ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

AbstractHabitat loss and climate change are major threats to amphibian species worldwide. We combined niche modelling under various climatic scenarios with analysis of habitat loss and the appropriateness of Cuban protected areas to identify major risk zones for the Endangered Cuban toad Peltophryne longinasus. Four subspecies with disjunct distributions associated with mountain forests are recognized. Our results suggest that the western subspecies, P. longinasus longinasus and P. longinasus cajalbanensis, are at risk from global warming, habitat degradation and potential additive effects. Peltophryne longinasus dunni, in central Cuba, has the lowest threat level related to climate change and habitat loss but could become increasingly threatened by the presence of the infectious disease chytridiomycosis. The eastern subspecies, P. longinasus ramsdeni, faces moderate impacts of climate change and habitat loss; however, low opportunity of migration to new areas and population decline justify a high threatened status for this subspecies. Our results predict minor temperature increases and precipitation decreases in the future. Nevertheless, at the biological level these changes could generate variations in species physiology, vocal behaviour and prey availability, and could probably increase the risk of predation. In Cuba protected areas have contributed to avoiding excessive forest loss but the potential impact of climate change was not considered in their original design. Our findings confirm that all subspecies of P. longinasus are threatened but management measures should be tailored according to the various predicted impacts.

scholarly journals Climate Change in Oceania – A synthesis of biodiversity impacts and adaptations.

2011 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard T Kingsford ◽  
James E M Watson
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Pacific Islands ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Local Scale ◽  
Considerable Uncertainty ◽  
Management Processes ◽  
Geographical Regions ◽  
The World ◽  
Future Challenges ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

Climate change is already affecting many of the world’s ecosystems with far-reaching impacts. In this special issue, contributors focus on the current and projected impacts of climate change across different geographical regions of Oceania (Australia, Pacific Islands and New Zealand). In this synthesis, we examine how climate change is affecting the three main realms: terrestrial, freshwater (broadly including estuarine and inland saline systems) and marine. Within this context, we also examine general strategies for climate adaptation including reducing other threats (e.g., habitat loss and degradation), expanding protected areas, increasing connectivity, restoring habitat and translocations. We show that many of these general strategies will not overcome all the threats caused by climate change and specific solutions are likely to be necessary. Beyond the implementation of these strategies, there are significant future challenges which will hamper effective adaptation that need to be overcome by the scientific community. Our current understanding of the impacts of climate change on biodiversity remains poor; this is particularly true for poor nations in the region. There is also considerable uncertainty in forecasts of climate change, particularly at the local scale, and this uncertainty impacts pro-active planning. This makes effective implementation particularly challenging. Considerable focus is needed into ecosystem-based adaptation where local communities are integrally involved, allied with more active and accountable management of conservation, through adaptive management processes. The world is experiencing far reaching and long-term changes to ecosystems with major impacts on human communities, particularly in relation to ecosystem services. Our ability to develop effective adaptation strategies from the broad scale policy (e.g., emissions control) to local scale management (e.g., building resilience in ecosystems) will be significantly tested but the world is in an important period and scientists and practitioners need to keep trying different approaches and reporting their successes and failures to the wider community.

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