Global Climate Change and Species Interactions

A major environmental concern of this century is the impact of human activity on the Earth’s climate, with prospects of major biological upheaval. The combined effects of deforestation and release of chemicals to the environment are likely to dramatically modify global temperature, and wind and rain patterns within the next century (Schneider 1989; Wetherald, 1991). However, most conservation biology proceeds without reference to climate shifts. This may be because the major threats to biodiversity (e.g., habitat destruction) occur quite independently of climate. Unfortunately, however, many of our solutions to biodiversity threats, such as the creation of national parks and reserves, are designed on the assumption that the climate will stay as it currently is. In this chapter I review the commonly accepted scenarios for climate change, sketch some research regarding impact on different organisms, and focus on two issues: how might climate change threaten the persistence of species and what surprises might await us as a result of climate change.