Climate Change and Biodiversity

TThe importance of ecology and its contributions to biodiversity and global climate change cannot be denied. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment ranks climate change among the main direct drivers affecting ecosystems. Consequences of climate change on the species component of biodiversity include: changes in distribution, increased extinction rates, changes in reproduction timings, and changes in length of growing seasons for plants.

Some species that are already threatened are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. The following are examples of species and of their vulnerabilities (WWF. Climate Change. Nature at risk. Threatened species, accessed online at http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/climate_change/problems/impacts/species/index.cfm.):

Aerial view of the Great

Aerial View of Great Barrier Reef, Australia
Photo courtesy of Charlton Barreto

• Australia’s Great Barrier Reef could lose up to 95% of its living coral by 2050 due to changes in ocean temperature and chemistry.





Photo courtesy of Kalovstian/UNEP/Alpha Presse




• Since frogs rely on water to breed, any reduction or change in rainfall could reduce frog reproduction. Moreover, rising temperatures are closely linked to outbreaks of a fungal disease that contributes to the decline of amphibian populations, especially frogs in Latin America

Photo courtesy of David Snelling

• Some of the largest remaining areas where tigers occur are the mangrove forests of Asia. The projected rise in sea levels could cause the disappearance of the tigers’ habitat, threatening the survival of the species.

The inter-relationships between biodiversity and climate change can be viewed as:  biodiversity is threatened by climate change, however, proper management of biodiversity can reduce the impacts of climate change. Ergo, global climate change is a threat to  biological diversity and ecology plays an important role in mitigating or adapting the impacts of global climate change.

Ecology provides important information to human interest of various fields including biodiversity conservation, agriculture, food security, health, and tourism among others. In biodiversity conservation, mankind may be able to conserve biodiversity and sustainably used it. For example, nature reserves can be established to preserve rare species. Species re-distribution, likewise, as a consequence of climate change is most likely to happen. Proper taxonomic records provide the historical distribution of species, thereby, species extinction can be predicted and necessary support ecosystem and adaptive measures can be addressed.

Taxonomic information helps with making policies and other regulatory frameworks.  As an example, the Convention for the International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES), is an international agreement between governments. Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival (http://www.cites.org/eng/disc/what.shtml). Today, it accords varying degrees of protection to more than 30,000 species of animals and plants, whether they are traded as live specimens, fur coats or dried herbs. Philippines is a member country of CITES. Likewise, The CONABIO initiative in Mexico and INBio in Cost Rica offer examples of successful national models for converting basic taxonomic information into knowledge for biodiversity conservation policies, as well as for other policies relating to ecosystems and biodiversity.

Correct knowledge on availability and status of species (which of, course was achieved with tools and methods of systematic and taxonomy) is important to define and refine conservation strategies in a country.  In ASEAN Center for Biodiversity website (http://bim.aseanbiodiversity.org/biss/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=1),  species database takes off from the taxonomic tree defined by the Catalogue of Life (COL). 

Below is the Philippine level summary on the status of species threats:

.

	Endemic1	Native2	Threatened
			Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
Amphibians	80	99	1	15	32
Birds	178	451	13	11	37
Mammals	112	180	4	11	18
Reptiles	168	141	5	13	12
Butterflies	31	18	1	4	9
Molluscs	0	8	1	0	2
Freshwater Fishes	94	44	18	3	8
Marine Fishes	123	170	3	4	30
Plants	26	323	52	34	129

Source:
¹ Living National Treasures website, Living National Treasures: Philippines on 10 May 2010 at http://lntreasures.com/philippines.html

and http://bim.aseanbiodiversity.org/biss/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=7

² Total Species assessed by IUCN as of 2010 [IUCN Redlist of Threatened Species]
* for endemic, data available for vascular plants only

Knowing these pertinent facts on the species status, the Philippine government can provide certain policies on the prevention of habitat loss through declaration of sanctuary and/or protected area specifically for critically endangered species. Further, in forest ecosystem, its conservation offers important opportunities to protect biodiversity and slow climate change. In addition, afforestation and reforestation can be implemented to enhance carbon sinks and reservoirs. Adaptation options may include other activities that can increase resilience to climate change including avoidance habitat fragmentation and prevention conversion to plantations.