Life Sciences Commons^™

Enhanced Acidification Of Global Coral Reefs Driven By Regional Biogeochemical Feedbacks, Tyler Cyronak, Kai G. Schulz, Isaac R. Santos, Bradley D. Eyre

Tyler Cyronak

Physical uptake of anthropogenic CO₂ is the dominant driver of ocean acidification (OA) in the open ocean. Due to expected decreases in calcification and increased dissolution of CaCO₃ framework, coral reefs are thought to be highly susceptible to OA. However, biogeochemical processes can influence the pCO₂ and pH of coastal ecosystems on diel and seasonal time scales, potentially modifying the long‐term effects of increasing atmospheric CO₂. By compiling data from the literature and removing the effects of short‐term variability, we show that the average pCO₂ of coral reefs throughout the globe has increased ~3.5‐fold …

Marine Invertebrates: Communities At Risk, Jennifer A. Mather

Jennifer Mather, PhD

Our definition of the word ‘animal’ centers on vertebrates, yet 99% of the animals on the planet are invertebrates, about which we know little. In addition, although the Census of Marine Life (COML.org) has recently conducted an extensive audit of marine ecosystems, we still do not understand much about the animals of the seas. Surveys of the best-known ecosystems, in which invertebrate populations often play a key role, show that the invertebrate populations are affected by human impact. Coral animals are the foundation of coral reef systems, which are estimated to contain 30% of the species in the ocean. Physical …

Incubation Under Climatewarming Affects Behavioral Lateralisation In Port Jackson Sharks, Catarina Vila Pouca, Connor Gervais, Joshua Reed, Culum Brown

Culum Brown, PhD

Climate change is warming the world’s oceans at an unprecedented rate. Under predicted end-of-century temperatures, many teleosts show impaired development and altered critical behaviors, including behavioral lateralisation. Since laterality is an expression of brain functional asymmetries, changes in the strength and direction of lateralisation suggest that rapid climate warming might impact brain development and function. However, despite the implications for cognitive functions, the potential effects of elevated temperature in lateralisation of elasmobranch fishes are unknown. We incubated and reared Port Jackson sharks at current and projected end-of-century temperatures and measured preferential detour responses to left or right. Sharks incubated at …

Will Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests Be Sensitive Or Resistant To Future Changes In Rainfall Regimes?, Kara Allen, Juan Manuel Dupuy, Maria G. Gei, Catherine Hulshof, David Medvigy, Camila Pizano, Christina M. Smith, Annette Trierweiler, Skip J. Van Bloem, Bonnie G. Waring, Xiangtao Xu, Jennifer S. Powers

Skip Van Bloem

Seasonally dry tropical forests (SDTF) are located in regions with alternating wet and dry seasons, with dry seasons that last several months or more. By the end of the 21st century, climate models predict substantial changes in rainfall regimes across these regions, but little is known about how individuals, species, and communities in SDTF will cope with the hotter, drier conditions predicted by climate models. In this review, we explore different rainfall scenarios that may result in ecological drought in SDTF through the lens of two alternative hypotheses: 1) these forests will be sensitive to drought because they are already …

The International Whaling Commission—Beyond Whaling, Andrew J. Wright, Mark P. Simmonds, Barbara Galletti Vernazzani

Mark P. Simmonds, OBE

Since its establishment in 1946 as the international body intended to manage whaling, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has expanded its areas of interest to ensure the wider conservation of whales. Several key conservation topics have been taken forward under its auspices including climate change, chemical and noise pollution, marine debris and whale watching. Work on each of these topics at the IWC has grown substantially since the 1990s and remains ongoing. Important developments were the establishment of the Standing Working Group on Environmental Concerns in 1996 and the IWC’s Conservation Committee in 2003. Trying to address this diverse set …

Predicting Combined Effects Of Land Use And Climate Change On River And Stream Salinity, John Olson

John Olson

Climate Change, Cattle, And The Challenge Of Sustainability In A Telecoupled System In Africa, Tara S. Easter, Alexander K. Killion, Neil H. Carter

Neil H. Carter

Information, energy, and materials are flowing over greater distances than in the past, changing the structure and feedbacks within and across coupled human and natural systems worldwide. The telecoupling framework was recently developed to understand the feedbacks and multidirectional flows characterizing social and environmental interactions between distant systems. We extend the application of the telecoupling framework to illustrate how flows in beef affect and are affected by social-ecological processes occurring between distant systems in Africa, and how those dynamics will likely change over the next few decades because of climate-induced shifts in a major bovine disease, trypanosomosis. The disease is …

Changes In Feeding Selectivity Of Freshwater Invertebrates Across A Natural Thermal Gradient, Timothy A C Gordon, Joana Neto-Cerejeira, Paula C. Furey, Eoin J. O’Gorman

Paula Furey

No abstract provided.

The Costs Of Photorespiration To Food Production Now And In The Future, Berkley J. Walker, Andy Vanloocke, Carl J. Bernacchi, Donald R. Ort

Andy VanLoocke

Photorespiration is essential for C3 plants but operates at the massive expense of fixed carbon dioxide and energy. Photorespiration is initiated when the initial enzyme of photosynthesis, ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/ oxygenase (Rubisco), reacts with oxygen instead of carbon dioxide and produces a toxic compound that is then recycled by photorespiration. Photorespiration can be modeled at the canopy and regional scales to determine its cost under current and future atmospheres. A regional-scale model reveals that photorespiration currently decreases US soybean and wheat yields by 36% and 20%, respectively, and a 5% decrease in the losses due to photorespiration would be worth approximately …

Mapping Temperate Vegetation Climate Adaptation Variability Using Normalized Land Surface Phenology, Liang Liang, Mark D. Schwartz, Xiaoyang Zhang

Xiaoyang Zhang

Climate influences geographic differences of vegetation phenology through both contemporary and historical variability. The latter effect is embodied in vegetation heterogeneity underlain by spatially varied genotype and species compositions tied to climatic adaptation. Such long-term climatic effects are difficult to map and therefore often neglected in evaluating spatially explicit phenological responses to climate change. In this study we demonstrate a way to indirectly infer the portion of land surface phenology variation that is potentially contributed by underlying genotypic differences across space. The method undertaken normalized remotely sensed vegetation start-of-season (or greenup onset) with a cloned plants-based phenological model. As the …

Short-Beaked Common Dolphin (Delphinus Delphis) Occurrence In The Moray Firth, North-East Scotland, Kevin P. Robinson, Sonja Eisfeld, Marina Costa, Mark P. Simmonds

Mark P. Simmonds, OBE

The short-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) is regarded as notably rare or absent from the northern North Sea, but recent evidence suggests a rising frequency of the species in these waters with increasing regional sea temperatures. The following paper documents the presence of D. delphis in the Moray Firth in north-east Scotland and provides the first evidence for the sustained occurrence of these delphinids in this region during the warmer summer months at least. Sightings were collated during systematic surveys of the outer Moray Firth between 2001 and 2009 by independent research teams from the CRRU and WDCS. A total …

Microclimate Moderates Plant Responses To Macroclimate Warming, Pieter De Frenne, Francisco Rodríguez-Sánchez, David Anthony Coomes, Lander Baeten, Gorik Verstraeten, Mark Vellend, Markus Bernhardt-Römermann, Carissa D. Brownd, Jörg Brunet, Johnny Cornelis, Guillaume M. Decocq, Hartmut Dierschke, Ove Eriksson, Frank S. Gilliam, Radim Hédl, Thilo Heinken, Martin Hermy, Patrick Hommel, Michael A. Jenkins, Daniel L. Kelly, Keith J. Kirby, Fraser J. G. Mitchell, Tobias Naaf, Miles Newman, George Peterken, Petr Petrík, Jan Schultz, Grégory Sonnier, Hans Van Calster, Donald M. Waller, Gian-Reto Walther, Peter S. White, Kerry D. Woods, Monika Wulf, Bente Jessen Graae, Kris Verheyen

Frank S. Gilliam

Recent global warming is acting across marine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems to favor species adapted to warmer conditions and/or reduce the abundance of cold-adapted organisms (i.e., “thermophilization” of communities). Lack of community responses to increased temperature, however, has also been reported for several taxa and regions, suggesting that “climatic lags” may be frequent. Here we show that microclimatic effects brought about by forest canopy closure can buffer biotic responses to macroclimate warming, thus explaining an apparent climatic lag. Using data from 1,409 vegetation plots in European and North American temperate forests, each surveyed at least twice over an interval of …

Microclimate Moderates Plant Responses To Macroclimate Warming, Pieter De Frenne, Francisco Rodríguez-Sánchez, David Anthony Coomes, Lander Baeten, Gorik Verstraeten, Mark Vellend, Markus Bernhardt-Römermann, Carissa D. Brownd, Jörg Brunet, Johnny Cornelis, Guillaume M. Decocq, Hartmut Dierschke, Ove Eriksson, Frank S. Gilliam, Radim Hédl, Thilo Heinken, Martin Hermy, Patrick Hommel, Michael A. Jenkins, Daniel L. Kelly, Keith J. Kirby, Fraser J. G. Mitchell, Tobias Naaf, Miles Newman, George Peterken, Petr Petrík, Jan Schultz, Grégory Sonnier, Hans Van Calster, Donald M. Waller, Gian-Reto Walther, Peter S. White, Kerry D. Woods, Monika Wulf, Bente Jessen Graae, Kris Verheyen

Frank S. Gilliam

Recent global warming is acting across marine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems to favor species adapted to warmer conditions and/or reduce the abundance of cold-adapted organisms (i.e., “thermophilization” of communities). Lack of community responses to increased temperature, however, has also been reported for several taxa and regions, suggesting that “climatic lags” may be frequent. Here we show that microclimatic effects brought about by forest canopy closure can buffer biotic responses to macroclimate warming, thus explaining an apparent climatic lag. Using data from 1,409 vegetation plots in European and North American temperate forests, each surveyed at least twice over an interval of …

The Impacts Of Climate Change Mitigation Strategies On Animal Welfare, Sara Shields, Geoffrey Orme-Evans

Sara Shields, PhD

The objective of this review is to point out that the global dialog on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in animal agriculture has, thus far, not adequately considered animal welfare in proposed climate change mitigation strategies. Many suggested approaches for reducing emissions, most of which could generally be described as calls for the intensification of production, can have substantial effects on the animals. Given the growing world-wide awareness and concern for animal welfare, many of these approaches are not socially sustainable. This review identifies the main emission abatement strategies in the climate change literature that would negatively affect animal welfare and …

Flowering Phenology Change And Climate Warming In Southwestern Ohio, Ryan Mcewan, Robert J. Brecha, Donald R. Geiger, Grace P. John

Robert J. Brecha

Global surface temperature has increased markedly over the last 100 years. This increase has a variety of implications for human societies, and for ecological systems. One of the most obvious ways ecosystems are affected by global climate change is through alteration of organisms’ developmental timing (phenology). We used annual botanical surveys that documented the first flowering for an array of species from 1976 to 2003 to examine the potential implications of climate change for plant development. The overall trend for these species was a progressively earlier flowering time. The two earliest flowering taxa (Galanthus and Crocus) also exhibited the strongest …

Flowering Phenology Change And Climate Warming In Southwestern Ohio, Ryan Mcewan, Robert J. Brecha, Donald R. Geiger, Grace P. John

Ryan McEwan

Global surface temperature has increased markedly over the last 100 years. This increase has a variety of implications for human societies, and for ecological systems. One of the most obvious ways ecosystems are affected by global climate change is through alteration of organisms’ developmental timing (phenology). We used annual botanical surveys that documented the first flowering for an array of species from 1976 to 2003 to examine the potential implications of climate change for plant development. The overall trend for these species was a progressively earlier flowering time. The two earliest flowering taxa (Galanthus and Crocus) also exhibited the strongest …

Flowering Phenology Change And Climate Warming In Southwestern Ohio, Ryan Mcewan, Robert J. Brecha, Donald R. Geiger, Grace P. John

Donald R. Geiger

Global surface temperature has increased markedly over the last 100 years. This increase has a variety of implications for human societies, and for ecological systems. One of the most obvious ways ecosystems are affected by global climate change is through alteration of organisms’ developmental timing (phenology). We used annual botanical surveys that documented the first flowering for an array of species from 1976 to 2003 to examine the potential implications of climate change for plant development. The overall trend for these species was a progressively earlier flowering time. The two earliest flowering taxa (Galanthus and Crocus) also exhibited the strongest …

Bears, Birds, Bugs And Climate: Environews #^, Richard Philp

Richard B. Philp

There has long been a concern that global warming would cause species movements reflective of the instinctive drive to seek the most favorable environmental conditions. One concern is that agricultural pests and carriers of diseases like malaria would move north and south from tropical and subtropical areas. Some changes may benefit the species but not necessarily humankind. Both predicted and observed changes are discussed with examples from plant and animal species. Some concerns are controversial, kike the effect of climate change on polar bears.

Climate Change Adaptation Chapter: Marshfield, Massachusetts, Joshua H. Chase, Jonathan G. Cooper, Rory Elizabeth Fitzgerald, Filipe Antunes Lima, Sally R. Miller, Toni Marie Pignatelli

Sally Miller

Climate change, understood as a statistically significant variation in the mean state of the climate or its variability, is the greatest environmental challenge of this generation (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2001). Marshfield is already being affected by changes in the climate that will have a profound effect on the town’s economy, public health, coastal resources, natural features, water systems, and public and private infrastructure. Adaptation strategies have been widely recognized as playing an important role in improving a community’s ability to respond to climate stressors by resisting damage and recovering quickly. Based on review of climate projections for the …

Deglaciation Explains Bat Extinction In The Caribbean, Liliana M. Davalos, Amy L. Russell

Amy L. Russell

Recent Advances In The Climate Change Biology Literature: Describing The Whole Elephant, A. Townsend Peterson, Shaily Menon, Xingong Li

Shaily Menon

Climate change biology is seeing a wave of new contributions, which are reviewed herein. Contributions treat shifts in phenology and distribution, and both document past and forecast future effects. However, many of the current wave of contributions are observational and correlational, and few are experimental in nature, and too often a conceptual framework in which to contextualize the results is lacking. An additional gap is the lack of effective cross-linking among areas of research, for example, connection of sea-level rise and climate change implications for distributions of species, or evolutionary adaptation studies with distributional shift studies. Although numerous important contributions …

Participation In The First Cdm Project: The Role Of Property Rights, Social Capital And Contractual Rules, Yazhen Gong, Gary Bull, Kathy Baylis

Kathy Baylis

Paying developing countries for carbon sequestration is seen as a vital component of climate change mitigation. If appropriately designed, these payments can also transfer income to poor villagers, which can aid both the long-term sustainability of the carbon sequestered, as well as meeting the goal of poverty reduction. However, to encourage the participation of small-scale producers, a CDM forest project must offer sufficient incentives with minimal costs to participants. Both incentives and costs are embedded in property rights, social capital and contractual rules. In this paper, we ask what factors affect participation in the world’s first CDM project, established in …

Projected Climate Change Effects On Nuthatch Distribution And Diversity Across Asia, Shaily Menon, M. Zafar-Ul Islam, A. Townsend Peterson

Shaily Menon

We used ecological niche modeling approaches to explore climate change implications for one family of birds, the Sittidae, in Asia. Quantitative niche models based on present-day distributions for each of 13 species were projected onto future climate change scenarios. Species’ potential distributional areas tended to be predicted to retract along their fringes, and at lower elevations along mountain ranges. As observed in other studies, montane systems were relatively more robust to the horizontal effects of climate change on species’ distributions compared to flatland systems, so range contractions were focused in Southeast Asia and peninsular India.