Turgidosculum complicatulum on sub-Antarctic Marion Island: carbon acquisition response to climate change

Polar Biology ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 455-459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Smith V. ◽  
Gremmen N.
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Marion Island ◽  
Acquisition Response ◽  
Turgidosculum Complicatulum

scholarly journals Distribution of microarthropods across altitude and aspect in the sub-Antarctic: climate change implications for an isolated oceanic island

Acarologia ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 58 (Suppl) ◽  
pp. 43-60
Author(s):  
Elizabeth A. Hugo-Coetzee ◽  
Peter C. Le Roux
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Species Richness ◽  
Community Structure ◽  
Distribution Patterns ◽  
Windward Side ◽  
Marion Island ◽  
High Altitudes ◽  
Cushion Plant ◽  
Springtail Species ◽  
C 30

Current climate change is altering the distribution of species across both broad and fine scales. Examining contemporary species distributions along altitudinal gradients is one approach to predicting species future distributions, as species occurrence patterns at cold, high altitudes are expected to resemble the species distribution patterns currently observed at warmer, lower altitudes if warming occurs. Strong changes in climate have been observed in the sub-Antarctic over the last 50 years, with a 1.5 °C increase in mean temperature and a c. 30% decrease in mean precipitation recorded on Marion Island. In this study, the distribution patterns of mites and springtails inhabiting the cushion-plant Azorella selago were studied on Marion Island. Mite and springtail species richness and springtail abundance were significantly higher on the western aspect of the island, possibly due to higher rainfall and greater cloud cover on the windward side of the island. Mite abundance did not differ between aspects of the island, which may be due to the higher desiccation tolerance of mites. Mite and springtail species richness and springtail abundance were significantly lower at high altitudes coinciding with lower temperatures and generally harsher environment at higher altitudes. Plant characteristics generally did not contribute to explaining species patterns, suggesting that at the island-scale abiotic variables, rather than biotic factors, appeared to be the more important determinants of community structure. Therefore, despite species responding individualistically, it is clear that a warmer and drier climate will dramatically change the microarthropod community structure within A. selago on Marion Island.

scholarly journals Terrestrial habitats on sub-Antarctic Marion Island: their vegetation, edaphic attributes, distribution and response to climate change

2001 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
pp. 641-654 ◽  
Author(s):  
V.R. Smith ◽  
M. Steenkamp ◽  
N.J.M. Gremmen
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Marion Island ◽  
Terrestrial Habitats

scholarly journals Climate change and elevational diversity capacity: do weedy species take up the slack?

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 20120806 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven L. Chown ◽  
Peter C. le Roux ◽  
Tshililo Ramaswiela ◽  
Jesse M. Kalwij ◽  
Justine D. Shaw ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Historical Data ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Range Shifts ◽  
Energy Availability ◽  
Marion Island ◽  
Spare Capacity ◽  
Weedy Species ◽  
Elevational Range

Climate change leads to species range shifts and consequently to changes in diversity. For many systems, increases in diversity capacity have been forecast, with spare capacity to be taken up by a pool of weedy species moved around by humans. Few tests of this hypothesis have been undertaken, and in many temperate systems, climate change impacts may be confounded by simultaneous increases in human-related disturbance, which also promote weedy species. Areas to which weedy species are being introduced, but with little human disturbance, are therefore ideal for testing the idea. We make predictions about how such diversity capacity increases play out across elevational gradients in non-water-limited systems. Then, using modern and historical data on the elevational range of indigenous and naturalized alien vascular plant species from the relatively undisturbed sub-Antarctic Marion Island, we show that alien species have contributed significantly to filling available diversity capacity and that increases in energy availability rather than disturbance are the probable underlying cause.

Averting robo-bees: why free-flying robotic bees are a bad idea

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (6) ◽  
pp. 723-729
Author(s):  
Roslyn Gleadow ◽  
Jim Hanan ◽  
Alan Dorin
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Computer Simulation ◽  
Food Security ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Plant Interactions ◽  
Plant Insect Interactions ◽  
Native Habitat ◽  
Insect Pollinators ◽  
Insect Interactions

Food security and the sustainability of native ecosystems depends on plant-insect interactions in countless ways. Recently reported rapid and immense declines in insect numbers due to climate change, the use of pesticides and herbicides, the introduction of agricultural monocultures, and the destruction of insect native habitat, are all potential contributors to this grave situation. Some researchers are working towards a future where natural insect pollinators might be replaced with free-flying robotic bees, an ecologically problematic proposal. We argue instead that creating environments that are friendly to bees and exploring the use of other species for pollination and bio-control, particularly in non-European countries, are more ecologically sound approaches. The computer simulation of insect-plant interactions is a far more measured application of technology that may assist in managing, or averting, ‘Insect Armageddon' from both practical and ethical viewpoints.

Modelling ecosystem adaptation and dangerous rates of global warming

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Millington ◽  
Peter M. Cox ◽  
Jonathan R. Moore ◽  
Gabriel Yvon-Durocher
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Diffusion Rate ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Genetic Evolution ◽  
Rates Of Change ◽  
Rapid Climate Change ◽  
Warming Climate ◽  
Intraspecies Competition ◽  
High Trait

Abstract We are in a period of relatively rapid climate change. This poses challenges for individual species and threatens the ecosystem services that humanity relies upon. Temperature is a key stressor. In a warming climate, individual organisms may be able to shift their thermal optima through phenotypic plasticity. However, such plasticity is unlikely to be sufficient over the coming centuries. Resilience to warming will also depend on how fast the distribution of traits that define a species can adapt through other methods, in particular through redistribution of the abundance of variants within the population and through genetic evolution. In this paper, we use a simple theoretical ‘trait diffusion’ model to explore how the resilience of a given species to climate change depends on the initial trait diversity (biodiversity), the trait diffusion rate (mutation rate), and the lifetime of the organism. We estimate theoretical dangerous rates of continuous global warming that would exceed the ability of a species to adapt through trait diffusion, and therefore lead to a collapse in the overall productivity of the species. As the rate of adaptation through intraspecies competition and genetic evolution decreases with species lifetime, we find critical rates of change that also depend fundamentally on lifetime. Dangerous rates of warming vary from 1°C per lifetime (at low trait diffusion rate) to 8°C per lifetime (at high trait diffusion rate). We conclude that rapid climate change is liable to favour short-lived organisms (e.g. microbes) rather than longer-lived organisms (e.g. trees).

Climate change and breeding success: decline of the capercaillie in Scotland

2001 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Moss ◽  
James Oswald ◽  
David Baines
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Breeding Success
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