Lecture Sixteen - Climate Change and Biodiversity Flashcards
Which 30 year period was likely the warmest 30 year period in the last 1400 years in the Northern Hemisphere?
1983-2012
What was the increase in Earth surface temperature from 1880-2012?
0.85 C
What is likely to be the dominant cause of observed global warming?
The effects of greenhouse gases.
In the last 40 years, what proportion of CO2 emissions have been produced of the entire measurable history?
Half.
What proportion of greenhouse gases comes from fossil fuel combustion and industrial processes?
76%
What proportion of greenhouse gases comes from land use change?
24%
What does solar brightness affect?
The amount of energy incident on Earth.
Is it likely that solar brightness is affecting global warming?
No
Give two ecological consequences of global warming.
- Changes in phenology / advanced timing in seasonal events
- Poleward and uphill range shifts of geographic distributions.
Give four possible phenological changes of climate change.
- Bird migrant arrival
- Insect flight dates
- Plant flowering
- Amphibian breeding
What seasonal changes advance phenology?
Warm springs
In what proportion of species has phenology advanced?
87%
On average, how much earlier do seasonal events occur in the year?
2-6 days
Give an example of a bird species where phenological advance has been linked to temperature.
Pied Flycatcher has greatest advances in egg-laying where there is the greatest level of warming.
What is the problem with global warming for migratory bird species?
The arrival date may not respond to their breeding range temperature.
What is the average advance of phenology per decade?
5 days
Why are there different rates of advancement for different species?
There are different selective forces acting on species, different species have different optimum phenologies.
What can be said about plans that have shifted their phenology least over 150 years?
They have declined most in abundance
What can be said about the geographical distributions of species at low latitudes?
They have contracted.
What can be said about the geographical distributions of species at high latitudes?
They have expanded.
What has happened to the northern limits of distributions in Britain in the past 50 years?
They have shifted further North.
Give a group of organisms in Britain that are moving South.
Reptiles and amphibians
Where in the world are latitudinal shifts greater?
Where temperature is warming the most
Describe the distribution of beech trees in Spain.
- Limited to the tops of mountains
- Dying out at lower altitude limits and replaced by holm oak.
What percentage of species shifted in the predicted direction?
80%
Give the four possible species responses to climate change.
- Adapt
- Cope
- Move
- Die
Give three species that have adapted to climate change by moving.
- Meadow grasshopper
- Hedgehog
- Brown bear
