Climate Change Effects on Animal Distributions and Evolution
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Transcript of Climate Change Effects on Animal Distributions and Evolution
Climate Change Effects on Animal Distributions and Evolution
Jeremy E. GuinnEnvironmental Science Program
Sitting Bull College
Effects on animal
populations are explicitly
tied to the disturbance of
ecological processes.
INTRODUCTION
Increased Intensity of Storms
• increased flooding
• increased erosion
• increased sedimentation
Habitat loss, degradation, or change
INTRODUCTION
Melting Ice Caps
• Changes in migration patterns
• Changes in food availability
• Changes in habitat
Loss of species and entire ecosystems
INTRODUCTION
Drought & Desertification
• Changes in Vegetative Community
• Changes in Food Web
• Changes in Habitat
Loss of species and entire ecosystems
INTRODUCTION
Climate Change
• Increased Intensity of Storms
•Melting Ice Caps
•Drought & Desertification
Loss of species and entire ecosystems
INTRODUCTION
Effects on Animal Populations
I. Loss of Biodiversity
II. Changes in Disease Outbreaks
III. Changes in Range Distributions
IV. Changes in Co-evolution and Timing Events
V. Increases in Generalists, Decreases in Specialists
Loss of Biodiversity
What is Diversity?
The key to conservation is maintaining and
improving biodiversity.
What is Biodiversity?
Loss of Biodiversity
Species Richness
How is Biodiversity Measured?
Species Evenness
Index of Diversity
Loss of Biodiversity
Amphibian Declines Bleaching of Coral Reefs
Loss of Fisheries
Changes in Disease Outbreaks
Changes in precipitation are tied to fungal, bacterial,
and viral diseases that affect animals or are carried
by animals.Golden Frog— Costa Rica
Extinct due to a bacterial infection outbreak
Changes in Disease Outbreaks
Changes in Disease OutbreaksYukon River
• 45% of Chinook Salmon now infected by protozoan parasite, Ichthyophonus, never found in the area before 1985. (Kocan et al. 2004)
• Presence of Ichthyophonus tied to increases in water temperature
Changes in Disease Outbreaks
North Dakota
• June 2009—Snapping Turtle Die-off tied to bacterial infection
reportedly caused by severe winter and flooding
Analyses of data from the past 40 years of Audubon’s
Christmas Bird Count reveal that 58% of the 305
widespread species that winter on the continent have
shifted significantly north since 1968, some by hundreds
of kilometers.
Changes in Range Distributions
Changes in Range Distributions
Changes in Range DistributionsA 3oC increase would result in drying of much of the “prairie
potholes” causing major declines in aquatic communities.
Changes in Range DistributionsAltitudinal shifts up mountainsides to cope with warmer
temperatures.
Changes in Range Distributions
Banks Island, Canada - Expanded Ranges.
The Inuit now regularly see species common much further south
that previously were never seen on the island, such as robins and
barn swallows.
Thunder and lightning, never before recorded in Inuit oral history,
have also been reported (Ashford and Castleden, 2001).
Changes in Co-evolution & Timing Events
What is Co-evolution?
European Ecosystem—
Flowers bloom, butterflies produce caterpillars, bird eggs hatch—all
timed together for the benefit of all parties.
Observations over 47 years showed that birds maintained their
timing, but caterpillars peaked two weeks earlier.
Increases in Generalists andIntroduced Species
Less competition from specialists will allow some
generalist to expand.
Warmer northern regions will allow species to
expand.
Decreases in Specialists
Species that have a small ecological niche will decline as these
habitats are altered by climate change.
Decreases in Specialists
Lynx—
The feline's main prey, the snowshoe hare, lives in deep snow
cover in boreal forest. Because they rely so heavily on hares for
food, lynx are adapted to live in areas with snow cover at least
four months out of the year.
Summary
• Some animal populations will be severely impacted by climate
change. Others species may benefit from new conditions.
• However, biodiversity will almost certainly be decreased and many
species will go extinct.
Summary
“The combination of rising temperatures and winter precipitation
amounts therefore trends toward earlier and more dramatic spring
snowmelts and higher stream-flow conditions in winter and spring,
with an expected increase in potentially significant flood events such
as the 1997 Red River flood of Grand Forks that destroyed nearly
90% of the city and caused over $1 billion in damage.”
—in Philander (2008).