scholarly journals Biodiversity impacts of climate change – the PRONAS software as educational tool

Web Ecology ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-58
Author(s):  
K. Ulbrich ◽  
O. Schweiger ◽  
S. Klotz ◽  
J. Settele

Abstract. Loss of biodiversity under climate change is on the top of European research agendas. However, there is a huge gap between the scientific and the educational communities: Only a small amount of current knowledge reaches the young generation. We faced the challenge of how to transfer results of biodiversity research to the reality of school classrooms – in a way that raises interest, awareness and motivation among students from the age of 12 to 19. We developed the educational software PRONAS (PROjections of NAture for Schools) to show how scientists handle questions about the impact of climate change on the habitats of many European species. About 50 European plant and animal species have been used to demonstrate habitat losses, habitat shifts, and mismatch of habitat dynamics of interacting species. The software was developed with a bottom-up approach, and a manual for applying the software in the classroom was written in close cooperation with teachers. We included specific elements of didactic approaches such as storylines describing future scenarios, projections and simulations of species' future climatic niches, as well as the combination of virtual and real excursions. PRONAS is freely accessible in German and English on http://www.ufz.de/pronas-lernsoftware. Feedback was given by about 100 teachers from German and other European schools at six teacher workshops and by 141 students from four German schools. While most teachers confirmed that the designed format of knowledge transfer is attractive and contributes to knowledge building and awareness raising, many students older than 16 felt under-challenged. Altogether, we found that "educational software" is a useful format for scientific outreach which is worth joint efforts of scientists and educators and which needs more support and incentives for scientists to go forward in this direction.

1999 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. R. Nawaz ◽  
A. J. Adeloye ◽  
M. Montaseri

In this paper, we report on the results of an investigation into the impacts of climate change on the storage-yield relationships for two multiple-reservoir systems, one in England and the other in Iran. The impact study uses established protocol and obtains perturbed monthly inflow series using a simple runoff coefficient approach which accounts for non-evaporative losses in the catchment, and a number of recently published GCM-based scenarios. The multi-reservoir analysis is based on the sequent-peak algorithm which has been modified to analyse multiple reservoirs and to accommodate explicitly performance norms and reservoir surface fluxes, i.e. evaporation and rainfall. As a consequence, it was also possible to assess the effect of including reservoir surface fluxes on the storage-yield functions. The results showed that, under baseline conditions, consideration of net evaporation will require lower storages for the English system and higher storages for the Iranian system. However, with perturbed hydroclimatology different impacts were obtained depending on the systems' yield and reliability. Possible explanations are offered for the observed behaviours.


Significance The extreme cold comes as the province is still dealing with the damage caused by unprecedented levels of heat and wildfires last summer and then record levels of rainfall and flooding in November. Its experience has focused attention on Canada’s wider vulnerability to the impact of shifting weather patterns and climate change. Impacts The natural resource sectors that are vital to Canada’s economy face an increasingly difficult environment for extraction. Indigenous peoples across the country will see their traditional ways of life further disrupted by climate change. The increasingly evident impacts of climate change on day-to-day life will see voters demand greater action from government. Significant investment in green initiatives, clean energy and climate resiliency initiatives will boost green industries.


2016 ◽  
Vol 64 (spe2) ◽  
pp. 117-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paulo Antunes Horta ◽  
Pablo Riul ◽  
Gilberto M. Amado Filho ◽  
Carlos Frederico D. Gurgel ◽  
Flávio Berchez ◽  
...  

Abstract Rhodolith beds are important marine benthic ecosystems, representing oases of high biodiversity among sedimentary seabed environments. They are found frequently and abundantly, acting as major carbonate 'factories' and playing a key role in the biogeochemical cycling of carbonates in the South Atlantic. Rhodoliths are under threat due to global change (mainly related to ocean acidification and global warming) and local stressors, such as fishing and coastal run-off. Here, we review different aspects of the biology of these organisms, highlighting the predicted effects of global change, considering the additional impact of local stressors. Ocean acidification (OA) represents a particular threat that can reduce calcification or even promote the decalcification of these bioengineers, thus increasing the eco-physiological imbalance between calcareous and fleshy algae. OA should be considered, but this together with extreme events such as heat waves and storms, as main stressors of these ecosystems at the present time, will worsen in the future, especially if possible interactions with local stressors like coastal pollution are taken into consideration. Thus, in Brazil there is a serious need for starting monitoring programs and promote innovative experimental infrastructure in order to improve our knowledge of these rich environments, optimize management efforts and enhance the needed conservation initiatives.


2016 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 53
Author(s):  
S. Ishaq ◽  
M. Z. Khan ◽  
F. Begum ◽  
K. Hussain ◽  
R. Amir ◽  
...  

Climate Change is not a stationary phenomenon; it moves from time to time, it represents a major threat to mountainous biodiversity and to ecosystem integrity. The present study is an attempt to identify the current knowledge gap and the effects of climate change on mountainous biodiversity, a special reference to the Gilgit-Baltistan is briefly reviewed. Measuring the impact of climate change on mountain biodiversity is quite challenging, because climate change interacts with every phenomenon of ecosystem. The scale of this change is so large and very adverse so strongly connected to ecosystem services, and all communities who use natural resources. This study aims to provide the evidences on the basis of previous literature, in particular context to mountain biodiversity of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB). Mountains of Gilgit-Baltistan have most fragile ecosystem and are more vulnerable to climate change. These mountains host variety of wild fauna and flora, with many endangered species of the world. There are still many gaps in our knowledge of literature we studied because very little research has been conducted in Gilgit-Baltistan about climate change particular to biodiversity. Recommendations are made for increased research efforts in future this including jointly monitoring programs, climate change models and ecological research. Understanding the impact of climate change particular to biodiversity of GB is very important for sustainable management of these natural resources. The Government organizations, NGOs and the research agencies must fill the knowledge gap, so that it will help them for policy making, which will be based on scientific findings and research based.


Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 2201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feng Zeng ◽  
Ming-Guo Ma ◽  
Dong-Rui Di ◽  
Wei-Yu Shi

Separating the impact of climate change and human activities on runoff is an important topic in hydrology, and a large number of methods and theories have been widely used. In this paper, we review the current papers on separating the impacts of climate and human activities on runoff, summarize the progress of relevant research methods and applications in recent years, and discuss future research needs and directions.


Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 959
Author(s):  
Ana María Durán-Quesada ◽  
Rogert Sorí ◽  
Paulina Ordoñez ◽  
Luis Gimeno

The Intra–Americas Seas region is known for its relevance to air–sea interaction processes, the contrast between large water masses and a relatively small continental area, and the occurrence of extreme events. The differing weather systems and the influence of variability at different spatio–temporal scales is a characteristic feature of the region. The impact of hydro–meteorological extreme events has played a huge importance for regional livelihood, having a mostly negative impact on socioeconomics. The frequency and intensity of heavy rainfall events and droughts are often discussed in terms of their impact on economic activities and access to water. Furthermore, future climate projections suggest that warming scenarios are likely to increase the frequency and intensity of extreme events, which poses a major threat to vulnerable communities. In a region where the economy is largely dependent on agriculture and the population is exposed to the impact of extremes, understanding the climate system is key to informed policymaking and management plans. A wealth of knowledge has been published on regional weather and climate, with a majority of studies focusing on specific components of the system. This study aims to provide an integral overview of regional weather and climate suitable for a wider community. Following the presentation of the general features of the region, a large scale is introduced outlining the main structures that affect regional climate. The most relevant climate features are briefly described, focusing on sea surface temperature, low–level circulation, and rainfall patterns. The impact of climate variability at the intra–seasonal, inter–annual, decadal, and multi–decadal scales is discussed. Climate change is considered in the regional context, based on current knowledge for natural and anthropogenic climate change. The present challenges in regional weather and climate studies have also been included in the concluding sections of this review. The overarching aim of this work is to leverage information that may be transferred efficiently to support decision–making processes and provide a solid foundation on regional weather and climate for professionals from different backgrounds.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 273-283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto Quiroz ◽  
David A. Ramírez ◽  
Jürgen Kroschel ◽  
Jorge Andrade-Piedra ◽  
Carolina Barreda ◽  
...  

Abstract The Andean region is the most important center of potato diversity in the world. The global warming trend which has taken place since the 1950s, that is 2-3 times the reported global warming and the continuous presence of extreme events makes this region a live laboratory to study the impact of climate change. In this review, we first present the current knowledge on climate change in the Andes, as compared to changes in other mountain areas, and the globe in general. Then, the review describes the ecophysiological strategies to cope and adapt to changes in atmospheric CO2 levels, temperature and soil water availability. As climate change also has a significant effect on the magnitude and frequency of the incidence of pests and diseases, the current knowledge of the dynamics of vectors in the Andean region is discussed. The use of modeling techniques to describe changes in the range expansion and number of insect pest generations per year as affected by increases in temperature is also presented. Finally, the review deals with the use of crop modeling to analyze the likely impact of projected climate scenarios on potato yield and tuber initiation.


Author(s):  
MA Islam ◽  
SK Paul

The objective of this research is to evaluate people’s perception on vulnerabilities of agriculture and to explore effective adaptation options with identifying the underlying demographic, socio-economic and other relevant variables that influence the adaptation strategies in the sea level rise (SLR) hazard induced coastal areas of Bangladesh. The study finds that climate change and induced SLR are emerging threats to coastal agriculture of Bangladesh; hence, farmers are applying different adaptation strategies to reduce the vulnerabilities of coastal agriculture. Selection of effective adaptation strategies to vulnerabilities of agriculture depends not only on the magnitude, intensity and the impacts of climate change and SLR, but also perceptions and types of farmer, land, educational level, indigenous knowledge about adaptation, locational advantages, external support, community awareness and sharing of different effective mechanisms among the farmers. Effective adaptation strategies with high perceptions have significant influence to reduce the vulnerabilities of agriculture considering the adverse impacts of climate change and SLR. In time of extreme climatic hazards when a great loss in agriculture hamper the coastal agrobased economy, different effective indigenous local adaptation strategies through farmer awareness and community co-operation become vital for minimizing the impact of climatic hazards and reducing the vulnerabilities of coastal agriculture.Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. & Tech. 8 (1): 70-78, June, 2018


2021 ◽  
Vol 121 ◽  
pp. 106976
Author(s):  
Minrui Huang ◽  
Liuyong Ding ◽  
Jun Wang ◽  
Chengzhi Ding ◽  
Juan Tao

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shlomit Paz

Abstract One of the main impacts of climate change on health is the influence on vector-borne diseases (VBDs). During the last few years, yearly outbreaks of the West Nile virus (WNV) have occurred in many locations, providing evidence of ongoing transmission. Currently, it is the most widely distributed arbovirus in the world. Increases in ambient temperature have impacts on WNV transmission. Indeed, clear associations were found between warm conditions and WNV outbreaks in various areas. The impact of changes in rainfall patterns on the incidence of the disease is influenced by the amount of precipitation (increased rainfall, floods or droughts), depending on the local conditions and the differences in the ecology and sensitivity of the species of mosquito. Predictions indicate that for WNV, increased warming will result in latitudinal and altitudinal expansions of regions climatically suitable for transmission, particularly along the current edges of its transmission areas. Extension of the transmission season is also predicted. As models show that the current climate change trends are expected to continue, it is important to reinforce WNV control efforts and increase the resilience of population health. For a better preparedness, any assessment of future transmission of WNV should consider the impacts of the changing climate.


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