scholarly journals Extinction in Eden: identifying the role of climate change in the decline of the koala in south-eastern NSW

2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Lunney ◽  
Eleanor Stalenberg ◽  
Truly Santika ◽  
Jonathan R. Rhodes
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Habitat Loss ◽  
Human Population ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Population Analysis ◽  
Community Survey ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Change Temperature

Context Reviews of climate change in Australia have identified that it is imposing additional stresses on biodiversity, which is already under threat from multiple human impacts. Aims The present study aimed to determine the contributions of several factors to the demise of the koala in the Eden region in south-eastern New South Wales and, in particular, to establish to what extent climate change may have exacerbated the decline. Methods The study built on several community-based koala surveys in the Eden region since 1986, verified through interviews with survey respondents. Historical records as far back as the late 19th century, wildlife databases and field-based surveys were used to independently validate the community survey data and form a reliable picture of changes in the Eden koala population. Analysis of the community survey data used a logistic model to assess the contribution of known threats to koalas, including habitat loss measured as changes in foliage projective cover, fire, increases in the human population and climate change in the form of changes in temperature and rainfall, to the regional decline of this species. Key results We found a marked, long-term shrinkage in the distribution of the koala across the Eden region. Our modelling demonstrated that a succession of multiple threats to koalas from land use (human population growth and habitat loss) and environmental change (temperature increase and drought) were significant contributors to this decline. Conclusions Climate change, particularly drought and rising temperatures, has been a hitherto hidden factor that has been a major driver of the decline of the koala in the Eden region. Implications Development of strategies to help fauna adapt to the changing climate is of paramount importance, particularly at a local scale.

Threats to terrestrial biodiversity

2019 ◽  
pp. 177-212
Author(s):  
Richard T. Corlett
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Population ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Emerging Infectious Diseases ◽  
Forest Products ◽  
Wildlife Trade ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Non Timber Forest Products ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Terrestrial Biodiversity

More than a billion people inhabit Tropical East Asia today and negative impacts on ecosystems and wild species are pervasive. Historically, the ultimate driver has been human population growth, but while this is now slowing, there is no prospect of an early reduction in human impacts. Poverty, corruption, weak governance, and globalization are additional underlying drivers. The major proximal threats and their consequences—deforestation, habitat fragmentation, mining, urbanization and infrastructure development, logging and the collection of non-timber forest products, hunting and the wildlife trade, fires, invasive species, emerging infectious diseases, air pollution and nutrient enrichment, and anthropogenic climate change—are described in turn in this chapter. Finally, the problems of assessing and predicting extinctions are discussed.

Population genetics of the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) in north-eastern New South Wales and south-eastern Queensland

2016 ◽  
Vol 64 (6) ◽  
pp. 402 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Dennison ◽  
G. J. Frankham ◽  
L. E. Neaves ◽  
C. Flanagan ◽  
S. FitzGibbon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Flow ◽  
Habitat Loss ◽  
Isolation By Distance ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Genetic Data ◽  
Phascolarctos Cinereus ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
South Wales ◽  
North Eastern

Habitat loss and fragmentation are key threats to local koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) populations. Broad-scale management is suboptimal for koalas because distribution models are not easily generalised across regions. Therefore, it is imperative that data relevant to local management bodies are available. Genetic data provides important information on gene flow and potential habitat barriers, including anthropogenic disturbances. Little genetic data are available for nationally significant koala populations in north-eastern New South Wales, despite reported declines due to urbanisation and habitat loss. In this study, we develop 14 novel microsatellite loci to investigate koala populations in north-eastern New South Wales (Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour, Tyagarah, Ballina) and south-eastern Queensland (Coomera). All locations were significantly differentiated (FST = 0.096–0.213; FʹST = 0.282–0.582), and this pattern was not consistent with isolation by distance (R2 = 0.228, P = 0.058). Population assignment clustered the more northern populations (Ballina, Tyagarah and Coomera), suggesting contemporary gene flow among these sites. For all locations, low molecular variation among (16%) rather than within (84%) sites suggests historical connectivity. These results suggest that koala populations in north-eastern New South Wales and south-eastern Queensland are experiencing contemporary impediments to gene flow, and highlight the importance of maintaining habitat connectivity across this region.

scholarly journals Widespread loss of Caribbean acroporid corals was underway before coral bleaching and disease outbreaks

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (17) ◽  
pp. eaax9395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katie L. Cramer ◽  
Jeremy B. C. Jackson ◽  
Mary K. Donovan ◽  
Benjamin J. Greenstein ◽  
Chelsea A. Korpanty ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Population ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Coral Disease ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Acropora Palmata ◽  
Acropora Cervicornis ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Agricultural Areas

The mass mortality of acroporid corals has transformed Caribbean reefs from coral- to macroalgal-dominated habitats since systematic monitoring began in the 1970s. Declines have been attributed to overfishing, pollution, sea urchin and coral disease, and climate change, but the mechanisms are unresolved due to the dearth of pre-1970s data. We used paleoecological, historical, and survey data to track Acropora presence and dominance throughout the Caribbean from the prehuman period to present. Declines in dominance from prehuman values first occurred in the 1950s for Acropora palmata and the 1960s for Acropora cervicornis, decades before outbreaks of acroporid disease or bleaching. We compared trends in Acropora dominance since 1950 to potential regional and local drivers. Human population negatively affected and consumption of fertilizer for agriculture positively affected A. palmata dominance, the latter likely due to lower human presence in agricultural areas. The earlier, local roots of Caribbean Acropora declines highlight the urgency of mitigating local human impacts.

scholarly journals What is sustainable agriculture?

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 4-8
Author(s):  
Leslie Firbank
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Carbon Storage ◽  
Habitat Loss ◽  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Human Population ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Water Quantity ◽  
Human Needs ◽  
The Many

We all want to eat food that is produced sustainably. But it's not at all clear what that means in practice. Fundamentally, agriculture can be regarded as sustainable if it can continue to meet human needs whilst avoiding irreversible harm to the planet. The human needs are not just food, but include employment, leisure, social cohesion and the many ecosystem services provided by agricultural land that benefit people, including regulating water quantity and quality, carbon storage, maintaining landscapes of cultural and spiritual value, and providing homes for wildlife. Agriculture causes harm to the planet from habitat loss, carbon emissions, and pollution of air and water. Meeting these challenges is tough now, but it will only become more difficult as the human population rises and climate change becomes more difficult to cope with.

Modelling climate-change-induced shifts in the distribution of the koala

2011 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Adams-Hosking ◽  
Hedley S. Grantham ◽  
Jonathan R. Rhodes ◽  
Clive McAlpine ◽  
Patrick T. Moss
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Habitat Loss ◽  
Conservation Planning ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Future Climate ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Scenarios ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Climate Envelope

Context The impacts of climate change on the climate envelopes, and hence, distributions of species, are of ongoing concern for biodiversity worldwide. Knowing where climate refuge habitats will occur in the future is essential to conservation planning. The koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) is recognised by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as a species highly vulnerable to climate change. However, the impact of climate change on its distribution is poorly understood. Aims We aimed to predict the likely shifts in the climate envelope of the koala throughout its natural distribution under various climate change scenarios and identify potential future climate refugia. Methods To predict possible future koala climate envelopes we developed bioclimatic models using Maxent, based on a substantial database of locality records and several climate change scenarios. Key results The predicted current koala climate envelope was concentrated in south-east Queensland, eastern New South Wales and eastern Victoria, which generally showed congruency with their current known distribution. Under realistic projected future climate change, with the climate becoming increasingly drier and warmer, the models showed a significant progressive eastward and southward contraction in the koala’s climate envelope limit in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. The models also indicated novel potentially suitable climate habitat in Tasmania and south-western Australia. Conclusions Under a future hotter and drier climate, current koala distributions, based on their climate envelope, will likely contract eastwards and southwards to many regions where koala populations are declining due to additional threats of high human population densities and ongoing pressures from habitat loss, dog attacks and vehicle collisions. In arid and semi-arid regions such as the Mulgalands of south-western Queensland, climate change is likely to compound the impacts of habitat loss, resulting in significant contractions in the distribution of this species. Implications Climate change pressures will likely change priorities for allocating conservation efforts for many species. Conservation planning needs to identify areas that will provide climatically suitable habitat for a species in a changing climate. In the case of the koala, inland habitats are likely to become climatically unsuitable, increasing the need to protect and restore the more mesic habitats, which are under threat from urbanisation. National and regional koala conservation policies need to anticipate these changes and synergistic threats. Therefore, a proactive approach to conservation planning is necessary to protect the koala and other species that depend on eucalypt forests.

scholarly journals Major Threats Facing Terrestrial Mammals in Canada

2011 ◽  
Vol 125 (3) ◽  
pp. 213 ◽  
Author(s):  
István Imre ◽  
Darren Derbowka
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Population Growth ◽  
Habitat Loss ◽  
Small Mammals ◽  
Human Population ◽  
Large Mammals ◽  
Terrestrial Mammal ◽  
Terrestrial Mammals ◽  
The Status ◽  
Overall Mortality

Largely due to influences related to dramatic human population growth, threats to many species are on the rise globally. An examination of mammals assessed by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) determined the major threats facing terrestrial mammal populations in Canada. Significant threats were associated with habitat loss and overall mortality caused directly by humans. Carnivores and rodents differed substantially in mortality caused directly by humans and loss of food resources. Large mammals were more affected by climate change than small mammals.

A user guide to the CCAFS Gender and Climate Change Survey data

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Survey Data
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