scholarly journals Climate change effects on above- and below-ground interactions in a dryland ecosystem

2012 ◽  
Vol 367 (1606) ◽  
pp. 3115-3124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adela González-Megías ◽  
Rosa Menéndez
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Plant Traits ◽  
Fruit Production ◽  
Early Summer ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Semiarid Region ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Climate Change Effects ◽  
Below Ground

Individual species respond to climate change by altering their abundance, distribution and phenology. Less is known, however, about how climate change affects multitrophic interactions, and its consequences for food-web dynamics. Here, we investigate the effect of future changes in rainfall patterns on detritivore–plant–herbivore interactions in a semiarid region in southern Spain by experimentally manipulating rainfall intensity and frequency during late spring–early summer. Our results show that rain intensity changes the effect of below-ground detritivores on both plant traits and above-ground herbivore abundance. Enhanced rain altered the interaction between detritivores and plants affecting flower and fruit production, and also had a direct effect on fruit and seed set. Despite this finding, there was no net effect on plant reproductive output. This finding supports the idea that plants will be less affected by climatic changes than by other trophic levels. Enhanced rain also affected the interaction between detritivores and free-living herbivores. The effect, however, was apparent only for generalist and not for specialist herbivores, demonstrating a differential response to climate change within the same trophic level. The complex responses found in this study suggest that future climate change will affect trophic levels and their interactions differentially, making extrapolation from individual species' responses and from one ecosystem to another very difficult.

scholarly journals Community and ecosystem responses to recent climate change

2010 ◽  
Vol 365 (1549) ◽  
pp. 2019-2024 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gian-Reto Walther
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Biotic Interactions ◽  
Climate Impact ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Ecosystem Responses ◽  
Ample Evidence ◽  
Recent Climate Change ◽  
Recent Climate

There is ample evidence for ecological responses to recent climate change. Most studies to date have concentrated on the effects of climate change on individuals and species, with particular emphasis on the effects on phenology and physiology of organisms as well as changes in the distribution and range shifts of species. However, responses by individual species to climate change are not isolated; they are connected through interactions with others at the same or adjacent trophic levels. Also from this more complex perspective, recent case studies have emphasized evidence on the effects of climate change on biotic interactions and ecosystem services. This review highlights the ‘knowns’ but also ‘unknowns’ resulting from recent climate impact studies and reveals limitations of (linear) extrapolations from recent climate-induced responses of species to expected trends and magnitudes of future climate change. Hence, there is need not only to continue to focus on the impacts of climate change on the actors in ecological networks but also and more intensively to focus on the linkages between them, and to acknowledge that biotic interactions and feedback processes lead to highly complex, nonlinear and sometimes abrupt responses.

Fire activity and its influence on Aerosol Optical Depth and Green-House Gases over PEEX area for the last two decades

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larisa Sogacheva ◽  
Anu-Maija Sundström ◽  
Timo H. Virtanen ◽  
Antti Arola ◽  
Tuukka Petäjä ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Atmospheric Composition ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Modeling Tools ◽  
Fire Emissions ◽  
Burned Areas ◽  
Fire Activity

<p>The Pan-Eurasian Experiment Program (PEEX) is an interdisciplinary scientific program bringing together ground-based in situ and remote sensing observations, satellite measurements and modeling tools aiming to improve the understanding of land-water-atmosphere interactions, feedback mechanisms and their effects on the ecosystem, climate and society in northern Eurasia, Russia and China. In a view of the large area covering thousands of kilometres, large gaps will remain where no or little ground-based observational information will be available. The gap can partly be filled by satellite remote sensing of relevant parameters as regards atmospheric composition.</p><p>Biomass burning is a violent source of atmospheric pollutants. Fires and corresponding emissions to the atmosphere dramatically change the atmospheric composition in case of long-lasting fire events, which might cover extended areas. In the burned areas, CO2 exchange, as well as emissions of different compounds are getting to higher levels, which might contribute to climate change by changing the radiative budget through the aerosol-cloud interaction and cloud formation. In the boreal forest, after CO2, CO and CH4, the largest emission factors for individual species were formaldehyde, followed by methanol and NO2 (Simpson et al., ACP, 2011). The emitted long-life components, e.g., black carbon, might further be transported to the distant areas and measured at the surface far from the burned areas.</p><p>In the boreal forest region, fires are very common, very large and produce a lot of smoke. Boreal areas  have been burning regularly for thousands of years and is adapted to fires, which happen most often between May and October. In boreal ecosystems, future increases in air temperature may lengthen the fire season and increase the probability of fires, leading some to hypothesize a positive feedback between warming, fire activity, carbon loss, and future climate change (Kasischke et al., 2000). </p><p> During the last few decades, several burning episodes have been observed over PEEX area by satellites (as fire counts), specifically over Siberia and central Russia. The following information available from satellites will be utilized to reveal a connection between Fire activity and atmospheric composition <span>for the period 2002-2020 over the PEEX area:</span></p><ul><li>- Fire count, FRP and burned areas from MODIS</li> <li>- Absorbing Aerosol Index (AAI), multi-instrument (GOME-2, OMI, TOMS) product</li> <li>- CO from MOPPIT</li> <li>- HCHO and NO2 from OMI</li> </ul><p>Monthly temperature and humidity fields from ERA5 re-analysis will be also utilized to reveal if a connection exist between climate variables and occurrence and intensity of the forest fires.</p><p>Kasischke, B. J. Stocks: Fire, Climate Change, and Carbon Cycling in the Boreal Forest. M. M. Cadwellet al.,Eds., Ecological Studies (Springer, New York, 2000)</p><p>Simpson, I. J., Akagi, S. K., Barletta, B., Blake, N. J., Choi, Y., Diskin, G. S., Fried, A., Fuelberg, H. E., Meinardi, S., Rowland, F. S., Vay, S. A., Weinheimer, A. J., Wennberg, P. O., Wiebring, P., Wisthaler, A., Yang, M., Yokelson, R. J., and Blake, D. R.: Boreal forest fire emissions in fresh Canadian smoke plumes: C<sub>1</sub>-C<sub>10</sub> volatile organic compounds (VOCs), CO<sub>2</sub>, CO, NO<sub>2</sub>, NO, HCN and CH<sub>3</sub>CN, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 6445–6463, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-6445-2011, 2011.</p><p> </p>

When did We Start to Change Things?

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas N. Sherratt ◽  
David M. Wilkinson
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Science Fiction ◽  
Early Summer ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Worst Case ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
James Lovelock

As we wrote the first draft of this chapter (during early summer 2007), the potential dangers of ‘global warming’ had moved up the news agenda to a point where most major politicians were starting to take the problem seriously. Our opening quotation comes from a book published in early 2006, which seemed to coincide with the growth of this wider concern with global warming. Lovelock was not alone in trying to raise awareness of the problem; around the same time another book on climate change by the zoologist and palaeontologist Tim Flannery also attracted global attention to this issue, as did the lecture tours (and Oscar-winning film) of Al Gore—the former US presidential candidate and campaigner on the dangers of climate change. Indeed, in his role as a climate campaigner Gore won a share in the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. It is possible that future historians will see the period 2005–2007 as the start of a crucial wider engagement with these problems. Things may not be as bad as James Lovelock suggests—in his book he deliberately emphasized the most worrying scenarios coming from computer models, and other evidence, in an attempt to draw attention to the critical nature of the problem. However, all these worst case scenarios were drawn from within the range of results that most climate scientists believed could plausibly happen—not extreme cases with little current evidence to support them. That one of the major environmental scientists of the second half of the twentieth century could write such prose as science—rather than science fiction—is clearly a case for concern about future climate change. It also raises another important question, relating to the history of human influence on our planet: when in our history did we start to have major environmental impacts on Earth as a whole? This is clearly an important issue from a historical perspective, but the answers may also have implications for some of our attempts to rectify the damage. Our discussion of this question comes with various caveats. Many of the arguments we consider in this chapter are still the subject of academic disagreement.

Climate Change effects on the River Discharge in Bulgaria

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Mavrova-Guirguinova
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
River Discharge ◽  
Simulation Models ◽  
Atmospheric Model ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Local Version ◽  
Hydrological Simulation ◽  
Climate Change Effects ◽  
Global Atmospheric Model ◽  
The Impact

<p>The impact of future climate change under IPCC scenarios RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 on hydrological regimes in plain catchments up to 650 m high and in mountainous areas of Bulgaria is discussed. A hydrological simulation models (TUWmodel) were calibrated on recorded data and ‘forced’ in the selected scenarios with precipitation and air temperature data from ALADIN 5.2, a local version of the French global atmospheric model ARPEGE, downscaled to a grid of 12 km. Simulations for the future periods 2013-2042, 2021-2050 and 2071-2100 are compared to the flows in the reference period 1976-2005.</p><p>Results indicate increased seasonality of flows, with noticeably drier summers and increase of river discharge in winter. In most of the cases the analysis of extreme events suggests significant increases in the frequency of both high‐ and low‐flow events. The change in the extreme runoff with a large repetition period required for the design of flood protection structures and systems has been investigated in regions with different mechanisms for flood generation. With the push of RCP4.5 or RCP8.5 scenarios the significant increase in flood peaks is observed in most of the river basins. There is a general trend of decreasing runoff with a 95% probability of exceedance.</p>

scholarly journals Climate change effects on migration phenology may mismatch brood parasitic cuckoos and their hosts

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 539-541 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Saino ◽  
Diego Rubolini ◽  
Esa Lehikoinen ◽  
Leonid V. Sokolov ◽  
Andrea Bonisoli-Alquati ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Short Distance ◽  
Life Cycles ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Climate Change Effects ◽  
Parasitism Rates ◽  
Migration Phenology ◽  
Spring Arrival

Phenological responses to climate change vary among taxa and across trophic levels. This can lead to a mismatch between the life cycles of ecologically interrelated populations (e.g. predators and prey), with negative consequences for population dynamics of some of the interacting species. Here we provide, to our knowledge, the first evidence that climate change might disrupt the association between the life cycles of the common cuckoo ( Cuculus canorus ), a migratory brood parasitic bird, and its hosts. We investigated changes in timing of spring arrival of the cuckoo and its hosts throughout Europe over six decades, and found that short-distance, but not long-distance, migratory hosts have advanced their arrival more than the cuckoo. Hence, cuckoos may keep track of phenological changes of long-distance, but not short-distance migrant hosts, with potential consequences for breeding of both cuckoo and hosts. The mismatch to some of the important hosts may contribute to the decline of cuckoo populations and explain some of the observed local changes in parasitism rates of migratory hosts.

scholarly journals Risk to North American Birds from Climate Change-Related Threats

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brooke L. Bateman ◽  
Lotem Taylor ◽  
Chad Wilsey ◽  
Joanna Wu ◽  
Geoffrey S. LeBaron ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
United States ◽  
Species Richness ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Extreme Weather ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Weather Events

AbstractClimate change is a significant threat to biodiversity globally, compounded by threats that could hinder species’ ability to respond through range shifts. However, little research has examined how future bird ranges may coincide with multiple stressors at a broad scale. Here, we assess the risk to 544 birds in the United States from future climate change threats under a mitigation-dependent global warming scenario of 1.5°C and an unmitigated scenario of 3.0°C. Threats considered included sea level rise, lake level change, human land cover conversion, and extreme weather events. We developed a gridded index of risk based on coincident threats, species richness, and richness of vulnerable species. To assign risk to individual species and habitat groups, we overlaid future bird ranges with threats to calculate the proportion of species’ ranges affected in both the breeding and non-breeding seasons. Nearly all species will face at least one new climate-related threat in each season and scenario analyzed. Even with lower species richness, the 3.0°C scenario had higher risk for species and groups in both seasons. With unmitigated climate change, multiple coincident threats will affect over 88% of the conterminous United States, and 97% of species could be affected by two or more climate-related threats. Some habitat groups will see up to 96% species facing three or more threats. However, climate change mitigation would reduce risk to birds from climate change-related threats across over 90% of the US. Across the threats included here, extreme weather events have the most significant influence on risk and the most extensive spatial coverage. Urbanization and sea level rise will also have disproportionate impacts on species relative to the area they cover. By incorporating threats into predictions of climate change impacts, this assessment provides a comprehensive picture of how climate change will affect birds and the places they need.

scholarly journals Ecosystem services show variable responses to future climate conditions in the Colombian páramos

PeerJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. e11370
Author(s):  
Mauricio Diazgranados ◽  
Carolina Tovar ◽  
Thomas R. Etherington ◽  
Paula A. Rodríguez-Zorro ◽  
Carolina Castellanos-Castro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Future Climate ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
Niche Modelling ◽  
Climate Conditions ◽  
Key Species

Background The páramos, the high-elevation ecosystems of the northern Andes, are well-known for their high species richness and provide a variety of ecosystem services to local subsistence-based communities and regional urbanizations. Climate change is expected to negatively affect the provision of these services, but the level of this impact is still unclear. Here we assess future climate change impact on the ecosystem services provided by the critically important páramos of the department of Boyacá in Colombia, of which over 25% of its territory is páramo. Methods We first performed an extensive literature review to identify useful species of Boyacá, and selected 103 key plant species that, based on their uses, support the provision of ecosystem services in the páramos. We collated occurrence information for each key species and using a Mahalanobis distance approach we applied climate niche modelling for current and future conditions. Results We show an overall tendency of reduction in area for all ecosystem services under future climate conditions (mostly a loss of 10% but reaching up to a loss of 40%), but we observe also increases, and responses differ in intensity loss. Services such as Food for animals, Material and Medicinal, show a high range of changes that includes both positive and negative outcomes, while for Food for humans the responses are mostly substantially negative. Responses are less extreme than those projected for individual species but are often complex because a given ecosystem service is provided by several species. As the level of functional or ecological redundancy between species is not yet known, there is an urgency to expand our knowledge on páramos ecosystem services for more species. Our results are crucial for decision-makers, social and conservation organizations to support sustainable strategies to monitor and mitigate the potential consequences of climate change for human livelihoods in mountainous settings.

scholarly journals Conceptual Frameworks for Assessing Climate Change Effects on Urban Areas: A Scoping Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (19) ◽  
pp. 10794
Author(s):  
Florian Klopfer ◽  
René Westerholt ◽  
Dietwald Gruehn
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Conceptual Frameworks ◽  
Climate Change Effects ◽  
International Panel ◽  
Climate Change Assessment ◽  
Adaptation Action

Urban areas are amongst the most adversely affected regions by current and future climate change effects. One issue when it comes to measuring, for example, impacts, vulnerabilities, and resilience in preparation of adaptation action is the abundance of conceptual frameworks and associated definitions. Frequently, those definitions contradict each other and shift over time. Prominently, in the transition from the IPCC AR (International Panel on Climate Change Assessment Report) 4 to the IPCC AR 5, a number of conceptual understandings have changed. By integrating common concepts, the literature review presented intends to thoroughly investigate frameworks applied to assess climate change effects on urban areas, creating an evidence base for research and politically relevant adaptation. Thereby, questions concerning the temporal development of publication activity, the geographical scopes of studies and authors, and the dominant concepts as applied in the studies are addressed. A total of 50 publications is identified following screening titles, abstracts, and full texts successively based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Major findings derived from our literature corpus include a recently rising trend in the number of publications, a focus on Chinese cities, an imbalance in favor of authors from Europe and North America, a dominance of the concept of vulnerability, and a strong influence of the IPCC publications. However, confusion regarding various understandings remains. Future research should focus on mainstreaming and unifying conceptual frameworks and definitions as well as on conducting comparative studies.

scholarly journals Climate Change Implications for Tidal Marshes and Food Web Linkages to Estuarine and Coastal Nekton

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denise D. Colombano ◽  
Steven Y. Litvin ◽  
Shelby L. Ziegler ◽  
Scott B. Alford ◽  
Ronald Baker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Food Web ◽  
Tidal Marsh ◽  
Tidal Marshes ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
Climate Change Effects ◽  
Multiple Stressor

AbstractClimate change is altering naturally fluctuating environmental conditions in coastal and estuarine ecosystems across the globe. Departures from long-term averages and ranges of environmental variables are increasingly being observed as directional changes [e.g., rising sea levels, sea surface temperatures (SST)] and less predictable periodic cycles (e.g., Atlantic or Pacific decadal oscillations) and extremes (e.g., coastal flooding, marine heatwaves). Quantifying the short- and long-term impacts of climate change on tidal marsh seascape structure and function for nekton is a critical step toward fisheries conservation and management. The multiple stressor framework provides a promising approach for advancing integrative, cross-disciplinary research on tidal marshes and food web dynamics. It can be used to quantify climate change effects on and interactions between coastal oceans (e.g., SST, ocean currents, waves) and watersheds (e.g., precipitation, river flows), tidal marsh geomorphology (e.g., vegetation structure, elevation capital, sedimentation), and estuarine and coastal nekton (e.g., species distributions, life history adaptations, predator-prey dynamics). However, disentangling the cumulative impacts of multiple interacting stressors on tidal marshes, whether the effects are additive, synergistic, or antagonistic, and the time scales at which they occur, poses a significant research challenge. This perspective highlights the key physical and ecological processes affecting tidal marshes, with an emphasis on the trophic linkages between marsh production and estuarine and coastal nekton, recommended for consideration in future climate change studies. Such studies are urgently needed to understand climate change effects on tidal marshes now and into the future.

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