Climate change reduces the range of the species – Dicyt

Climate change reduces the range of the species – Dicyt

     

Animals and plants may lose three times the area of ​​its distribution than expected

             

CSIC / DICYT The animal and plant species could lose between two and three times range from climate change than expected so far, according to a study led by researchers from the Council for Scientific Research (CSIC). This work, published in the journal Ecology Letters, consider adaptability to environmental changes in different populations of the same species, instead of taking the species as uniform blocks, like the current models that predict the effects of climate change on biodiversity.

 
 

“The animals and plants do not function as uniform blocks but are composed of different populations whose functional characteristics and phenotypic plasticity varies,” explains CSIC researcher Fernando Valladares, Department of Biogeography and Climate Change of the National Museum Natural Sciences. With this new study, the predictions for climate change are more pessimistic. “Estimates suggest that species may lose between two and three times range from climate change to consider both population variability as geographic and human barriers” says Valladares.

 
 

The scientist said that the study five scenarios were created based on the phenotypic plasticity of populations to temperature. “Each scenario corresponds to a group of species. The groups were reviewing a large number and variety of plants and animals and classify the population differences in phenotypic plasticity and local adaptation to temperature, “Valladares said. The incorporation of this information for any of the groups has resulted in areas of more pessimistic than those resulting from models to date future distribution, the researcher argues.

 
 

“The results to test the model with data from populations of Scots pine, Pinus sylvestris, a species widely distributed in the Palearctic, have confirmed the theoretical predictions,” says Valladares.

 
 

             

         

         

	bibliographic reference
	Fernando Valladares, Silvia Matesanz, Francois Guilhaumon, Miguel B. Araujo, et al. The effects of phenotypic plasticity and adaptation on the local forecasts of species range shifts under climate change. Ecology Letters. Doi: 10,111 / ele.12348