Lec 24 - 25: Impacts of anthropocentric Climate Change on Ecosystems

Question 1

How will climate change impact biomes, communities, and species?

Answer 1

• species distributions will change
  (shift toward the poles and upward in elevation)
• Species abundances will change
• new species will invade
• some species will go extinct

Question 2

timing of biological activities is changing

Answer 2

trees blooming earlier
migrating birds arriving earlier
butterflies emerging earlier

e.g European pied flycatcher chicks are now born later than the caterpillars they eat

life events are happening earlier in the year

the advance in phenology is 3x stronger in birds and butterflies than in flowering plants

Question 3

phenological change (examples)

Answer 3

japan cherry tree timing has advanced

Question 4

climate can determine the distribution of species

Answer 4

changes in temperature or precipitation will change the geographical range of species