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There is an ongoing decline in plant biodiversity, just like there is ongoing biodiversity loss for many other life forms. One of the causes for this decline is climate change . [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] Environmental conditions play a key role in defining the function and geographic distributions of plants .
Climate change and the associated changing weather patterns occurring worldwide have a direct effect on biology, population ecology, and the population of eruptive insects, such as the mountain pine beetle. This is because temperature is a factor which determines insect development and population success. [90]
But climate change leads to changes of temperature and average weather patterns. [3] [4] These changes can push climatic conditions outside of the species' niche, and ultimately render it extinct. [5] Normally, species faced with changing conditions can either adapt in place through microevolution or move to another habitat with suitable ...
Deforestation, and conversion of grasslands to desert, may also lead to cooling of the regional climate. This is because of the albedo effect (sunlight reflected by bare ground) during the day, and rapid radiation of heat into space at night, due to the lack of vegetation and atmospheric moisture. [18]
The effect of area on biodiversity patterns has been shown to be scale-dependent, having the strongest effect among species with small geographical ranges compared to those species with large ranges who are affected more so by other factors such as the mid-domain and/or temperature. [5]
The diversity of species and genes in ecological communities affects the functioning of these communities. These ecological effects of biodiversity in turn are affected by both climate change through enhanced greenhouse gases, aerosols and loss of land cover [citation needed], and biological diversity, causing a rapid loss of biodiversity and extinctions of species and local populations.
The tropics have far more uniform temperatures over a far wider latitudinal range (about 45 degrees) than high latitude species. As temperature is one of the most important (if not the most important) factor determining geographical distribution, wider latitudinal ranges in the tropics might therefore be expected.
Fisheries are affected by climate change in many ways: marine aquatic ecosystems are being affected by rising ocean temperatures, [2] ocean acidification [3] and ocean deoxygenation, while freshwater ecosystems are being impacted by changes in water temperature, water flow, and fish habitat loss. [4] These effects vary in the context of each ...