Fast climatic changes place an endemic Canary Island macroalga at extinction risk

AbstractGlobal warming and ultraviolet radiation (UVR) affect marine organisms worldwide. However, we still lack knowledge about the consequences of these environmental changes to range-restricted macroalgae species, such as Gelidium canariense, a habitat-forming endemic of the Canary Islands. The aim of this study is to provide useful data for analyzing the conservation status of this endemic species. To do this, (1) we compared distributional data from 1987 with the data collected in 2008 and 2019 along the northern coast of Tenerife; (2) we assessed the variation in macroalgae assemblages dominated by G. canariense over the last decade on this same cost; and (3) we explored the correlation of these results with the actual trends of sea surface temperature (SST), air temperature at 2 m above the sea surface (T2m), UVR, and downward solar radiation (DSR). The results showed significant changes in the distribution of G. canariense in the last 30 years at Tenerife. More than 90% of its populations have declined. The endemic macroalgae have been replaced by the globally distributed species Pterocladiella capillacea at nearly all the sites studied. The cover of G. canariense and Gelidium arbuscula decreased significantly with increasing SST and T2m. Additionally, G. canariense is negatively related to the rise in UVR. These results highlight the vulnerability of both species of Gelidium to global warming and UVR, but especially of G. canariense. The drastic decline of this species reveals the need to upgrade its conservation status and implement protection measures to reduce the damage that predicted global change scenario may have to their relict populations.

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Conservation Status of Marine Biodiversity in Oceania: An Analysis of Marine Species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

Journal of Marine Biology ◽

10.1155/2011/247030 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 2011 ◽

pp. 1-14 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Beth A. Polidoro ◽

Cristiane T. Elfes ◽

Jonnell C. Sanciangco ◽

Helen Pippard ◽

Kent E. Carpenter

Keyword(s):

Threatened Species ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Extinction Risk ◽

Conservation Status ◽

Marine Species ◽

Iucn Red List ◽

Red List ◽

Marine Biodiversity ◽

Conservation Priorities ◽

Conservation Action

Given the economic and cultural dependence on the marine environment in Oceania and a rapidly expanding human population, many marine species populations are in decline and may be vulnerable to extinction from a number of local and regional threats. IUCN Red List assessments, a widely used system for quantifying threats to species and assessing species extinction risk, have been completed for 1190 marine species in Oceania to date, including all known species of corals, mangroves, seagrasses, sea snakes, marine mammals, sea birds, sea turtles, sharks, and rays present in Oceania, plus all species in five important perciform fish groups. Many of the species in these groups are threatened by the modification or destruction of coastal habitats, overfishing from direct or indirect exploitation, pollution, and other ecological or environmental changes associated with climate change. Spatial analyses of threatened species highlight priority areas for both site- and species-specific conservation action. Although increased knowledge and use of newly available IUCN Red List assessments for marine species can greatly improve conservation priorities for marine species in Oceania, many important fish groups are still in urgent need of assessment.

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Collapse and rescue of evolutionary food webs under global warming

10.1101/701839 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Youssef Yacine ◽

Korinna T. Allhoff ◽

Avril Weinbach ◽

Nicolas Loeuille

Keyword(s):

Global Warming ◽

Food Webs ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Extinction Risk ◽

Well Being ◽

Feeding Preference ◽

List Type ◽

Trophic Networks ◽

Evolutionary Rescue ◽

Fast Evolution

AbstractGlobal warming is severely impacting ecosystems and threatening ecosystem services as well as human well-being. While some species face extinction risk, several studies suggest the possibility that fast evolution may allow species to adapt and survive in spite of environmental changes.We assess how such evolutionary rescue extends to multitrophic communities and whether evolution systematically preserves biodiversity under global warming.More precisely, we expose simulated trophic networks of co-evolving consumers to warming under different evolutionary scenarios, which allows us to assess the effect of evolution on diversity maintenance. We also investigate how the evolution of body mass and feeding preference affects coexistence within a simplified consumer-resource module.Our simulations predict that the long-term diversity loss triggered by warming is considerably higher in scenarios where evolution is slowed down or switched off completely, indicating that eco-evolutionary feedback indeed helps to preserve biodiversity. However, even with fast evolution, food webs still experience vast disruptions in their structure and functioning. Reversing warming may thus not be sufficient to restore previous structures.Our findings highlight how the interaction between evolutionary rescue and changes in trophic structures constrains ecosystem responses to warming with important implications for conservation and management policies.

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Synergistic impacts of global warming and thermohaline circulation collapse on amphibians

Communications Biology ◽

10.1038/s42003-021-01665-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Julián A. Velasco ◽

Francisco Estrada ◽

Oscar Calderón-Bustamante ◽

Didier Swingedouw ◽

Carolina Ureta ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Global Warming ◽

Thermohaline Circulation ◽

Climate Model ◽

Global Climate ◽

Extinction Risk ◽

Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽

Mitigation Strategies ◽

Amphibian Species ◽

Climate Conditions

AbstractImpacts on ecosystems and biodiversity are a prominent area of research in climate change. However, little is known about the effects of abrupt climate change and climate catastrophes on them. The probability of occurrence of such events is largely unknown but the associated risks could be large enough to influence global climate policy. Amphibians are indicators of ecosystems’ health and particularly sensitive to novel climate conditions. Using state-of-the-art climate model simulations, we present a global assessment of the effects of unabated global warming and a collapse of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) on the distribution of 2509 amphibian species across six biogeographical realms and extinction risk categories. Global warming impacts are severe and strongly enhanced by additional and substantial AMOC weakening, showing tipping point behavior for many amphibian species. Further declines in climatically suitable areas are projected across multiple clades, and biogeographical regions. Species loss in regional assemblages is extensive across regions, with Neotropical, Nearctic and Palearctic regions being most affected. Results underline the need to expand existing knowledge about the consequences of climate catastrophes on human and natural systems to properly assess the risks of unabated warming and the benefits of active mitigation strategies.

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Global extinction risk for seahorses, pipefishes and their near relatives (Syngnathiformes)

Oryx ◽

10.1017/s0030605320000782 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-10

Author(s):

Riley A. Pollom ◽

Gina M. Ralph ◽

Caroline M. Pollock ◽

Amanda C.J. Vincent

Keyword(s):

Threatened Species ◽

Habitat Degradation ◽

Extinction Risk ◽

Conservation Status ◽

Field Research ◽

Selective Extraction ◽

Iucn Red List ◽

Point Estimate ◽

Conservation Action ◽

Data Deficient

Abstract Few marine taxa have been comprehensively assessed for their conservation status, despite heavy pressures from fishing, habitat degradation and climate change. Here we report on the first global assessment of extinction risk for 300 species of syngnathiform fishes known as of 2017, using the IUCN Red List criteria. This order of bony teleosts is dominated by seahorses, pipefishes and seadragons (family Syngnathidae). It also includes trumpetfishes (Aulostomidae), shrimpfishes (Centriscidae), cornetfishes (Fistulariidae) and ghost pipefishes (Solenostomidae). At least 6% are threatened, but data suggest a mid-point estimate of 7.9% and an upper bound of 38%. Most of the threatened species are seahorses (Hippocampus spp.: 14/42 species, with an additional 17 that are Data Deficient) or freshwater pipefishes of the genus Microphis (2/18 species, with seven additional that are Data Deficient). Two species are Near Threatened. Nearly one-third of syngnathiformes (97 species) are Data Deficient and could potentially be threatened, requiring further field research and evaluation. Most species (61%) were, however, evaluated as Least Concern. Primary threats to syngnathids are (1) overexploitation, primarily by non-selective fisheries, for which most assessments were determined by criterion A (Hippocampus) and/or (2) habitat loss and degradation, for which assessments were determined by criterion B (Microphis and some Hippocampus). Threatened species occurred in most regions but more are found in East and South-east Asia and in South African estuaries. Vital conservation action for syngnathids, including constraining fisheries, particularly non-selective extraction, and habitat protection and rehabilitation, will benefit many other aquatic species.

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Estimating the Continental Response to Global Warming Using Pattern-Scaled Sea Surface Temperatures and Sea Ice

Journal of Climate ◽

10.1175/jcli-d-16-0032.1 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 29 (24) ◽

pp. 9125-9139 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Adeline Bichet ◽

Paul J. Kushner ◽

Lawrence Mudryk

Keyword(s):

Global Warming ◽

Sea Ice ◽

General Circulation ◽

Circulation Model ◽

Tropical Indian Ocean ◽

Sea Surface ◽

Climate Projections ◽

Western Boundary ◽

Sea Ice Concentration ◽

Continental Climate

Abstract Better constraining the continental climate response to anthropogenic forcing is essential to improve climate projections. In this study, pattern scaling is used to extract, from observations, the patterned response of sea surface temperature (SST) and sea ice concentration (SICE) to anthropogenically dominated long-term global warming. The SST response pattern includes a warming of the tropical Indian Ocean, the high northern latitudes, and the western boundary currents. The SICE pattern shows seasonal variations of the main locations of sea ice loss. These SST–SICE response patterns are used to drive an ensemble of an atmospheric general circulation model, the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Community Atmosphere Model, version 5 (CAM5), over the period 1980–2010 along with a standard AMIP ensemble using observed SST—SICE. The simulations enable attribution of a variety of observed trends of continental climate to global warming. On the one hand, the warming trends observed in all seasons across the entire Northern Hemisphere extratropics result from global warming, as does the snow loss observed over the northern midlatitudes and northwestern Eurasia. On the other hand, 1980–2010 precipitation trends observed in winter over North America and in summer over Africa result from the recent decreasing phase of the Pacific decadal oscillation and the recent increasing phase of the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation, respectively, which are not part of the global warming signal. The method holds promise for near-term decadal climate prediction but as currently framed cannot distinguish regional signals associated with oceanic internal variability from aerosol forcing and other sources of short-term forcing.

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Debris Flows Occurrence in the Semiarid Central Andes under Climate Change Scenario

Geosciences ◽

10.3390/geosciences11020043 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 43

Author(s):

Stella M. Moreiras ◽

Sergio A. Sepúlveda ◽

Mariana Correas-González ◽

Carolina Lauro ◽

Iván Vergara ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Debris Flows ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Urban Expansion ◽

Central Andes ◽

Semiarid Region ◽

Change Scenario ◽

Permafrost Degradation ◽

Mountain Areas ◽

Negative Impacts

This review paper compiles research related to debris flows and hyperconcentrated flows in the central Andes (30°–33° S), updating the knowledge of these phenomena in this semiarid region. Continuous records of these phenomena are lacking through the Andean region; intense precipitations, sudden snowmelt, increased temperatures on high relief mountain areas, and permafrost degradation are related to violent flow discharges. Documented catastrophic consequences related to these geoclimatic events highlight the need to improve their understanding in order to prepare the Andean communities for this latent danger. An amplified impact is expected not only due to environmental changes potentially linked to climate change but also due to rising exposure linked to urban expansion toward more susceptible or unstable areas. This review highlights as well the need for the implementation of preventive measures to reduce the negative impacts and vulnerability of the Andean communities in the global warming context.

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Diatoms in Saline Lakes Paleoclimate and Paleoecology Interpretations

The Paleontological Society Papers ◽

10.1017/s1089332600001510 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 13 ◽

pp. 149-168 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Erik J. Ekdahl

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Global Warming ◽

Global Climate Change ◽

Water Conservation ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Global Climate ◽

Light Availability ◽

Ionic Concentration ◽

Mitigation Strategies ◽

Environmental Response

Average global temperatures are predicted to rise over the next century and changes in precipitation, humidity, and drought frequency will likely accompany this global warming. Understanding associated changes in continental precipitation and temperature patterns in response to global change is an important component of long-range environmental planning. For example, agricultural management plans that account for decreased precipitation over time will be less susceptible to the effects of drought through implementation of water conservation techniques.A detailed understanding of environmental response to past climate change is key to understanding environmental changes associated with global climate change. To this end, diatoms are sensitive to a variety of limnologic parameters, including nutrient concentration, light availability, and the ionic concentration and composition of the waters that they live in (e.g. salinity). Diatoms from numerous environments have been used to reconstruct paleosalinity levels, which in turn have been used as a proxy records for regional and local paleoprecipitation. Long-term records of salinity or paleoprecipitation are valuable in reconstructing Quaternary paleoclimate, and are important in terms of developing mitigation strategies for future global climate change. High-resolution paleoclimate records are also important in groundtruthing global climate simulations, especially in regions where the consequences of global warming may be severe.

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