Climate Change and Resilience

Question 1

State 5 problems that climate change will create.

Answer 1

Habitat loss / Change,
Decline in agricultural productivity,
Spread of invasives,
Spread of disease,
Disruption of relationships between plants, pollinators and herbivores.

Question 2

State 4 plant responses to climate change.

Answer 2

Coping,
Adaptation,
Migration,
Extinction.

Question 3

Describe phenotypic plasticity.

Answer 3

A coping mechanism whereby a genotype can produce different phenotypes when exposed to different environments.

Question 4

What is a phenological shift?

Answer 4

The timing of flowering, germination, bud bursting and shooting changes. In warming climates, phenological events happen earlier in the year.

Question 5

How has Fritillaria delavayi adapted to a changing environment?

Answer 5

Advanced levels of human predation for Chinese medicine caused this plant to camouflage itself with a drab colour instead of a former light yellow flower.

Question 6

Which general species are likely to migrate quicker?

Answer 6

Those with shorter generations and long-distance dispersal mechanisms.

Question 7

What is climate envelope modelling?

Answer 7

A way of predicting the future optimum species distribution in relation to climate.

Question 8

Describe assisted migration.

Answer 8

Moving plants within future or predicted climate envelopes. This can be done by creating suitable habitats and corridors for migration or physical intervention. It is debatable whether humans should intervene in plant migration.

Question 9

State 5 problems with assisted migration.

Answer 9

Plants can become invasive/ disrupt the local ecosystem.
There could be no suitable habitat to move plants to.
Population genetics.
Costly.
Ethics.