Posted on Jun\u00a014,\u00a02013<\/h4>\n\n<\/p>\nBy Tim Radford, Climate News Network<\/b><\/p>\n
This piece first appeared at Climate News Network<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\nLONDON\u2013Climate change doesn\u2019t just threaten species that are already vulnerable \u2014 it could have alarming consequences for a huge range of birds, corals and amphibians that no-one had considered in danger of extinction before, according to a new study.<\/p>\n
Wendy Foden of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature\u2019s global species programme and colleagues examined the findings of 100 scientists over the last five years and looked for the biological and ecological characteristics that might make an animal more or less sensitive or adaptable to climate change.<\/p>\n
Many of the planet\u2019s birds, corals and amphibians are already threatened with extinction, often because of unsustainable logging, the growth of agriculture and so on, and climate change is likely to make their plight even more precarious.<\/p>\n
But unexpectedly, the authors report<\/a> in the journal PLOS One \u2014 the Public Library of Science – that they also found that 83% of the birds, 66% of the amphibians and 70% of the corals highly vulnerable to climate change, are not, right now, considered to be in need of conservation measures.<\/p>\nAlarming surprises<\/b><\/p>\n
The study<\/a> focused on the three taxonomic groups because all three have been well studied \u2014 naturalists have described 9,856 species of bird; 6204 species of amphibian and 797 reef building corals and the fact that they can be numbered so precisely is an indicator of the attention paid to these groups \u2014 and because they contain creatures that dwell on land, in freshwater and in the oceans: the three great \u201cbiomes\u201d or homes for life.<\/p>\n\u201cThe findings reveal alarming surprises,\u201d said Foden. \u201cWe hadn\u2019t expected that so many species and areas that were not previously considered to be of concern would emerge as highly vulnerable to climate change.<\/p>\n
\u201cClearly, if we simply carry on with conservation as usual, without taking climate change into account, we\u2019ll fail to help many of the species and areas that need it most.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her IUCN colleague and co-author Jean-Christophe Vi\u00c3\u00a9 called the research \u201ca leap forward\u201d for conservation. Besides providing a clearer picture of the challenge, he said \u201cwe now also know the biological characteristics that create their climate change \u2018weak points\u2019. This gives us an enormous advantage in meeting their conservation needs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Resources disappear<\/b><\/p>\n
That climate change due to human-induced greenhouse greenhouse gas emissions presents a threat to other species is not of itself news: Climate Network News stories have almost every month highlighted hazards to humans and mammals, to figs and fig wasps, to species caught in swiftly-moving climate zones, and to those sub-Arctic plants and animals that actually depend on snowfall to offer some sort of stable cover for the winter.<\/p>\n
But there has always been a tacit assumption that the first victims of changing climate would be among those species already at risk: the IUCN\u2019s Red List number 20,000 of these. The new maps of areas at risk now suggest that the problems of conservation extend much wider.<\/p>\n
The Amazon region hosts the highest concentrations of vulnerable birds and amphibians, and the \u201ccoral triangle\u201d of the central Indo-West Pacific is home to the highest numbers of vulnerable corals.<\/p>\n
A separate study of the so-called Albertine Rift \u2014 the western part of East Africa\u2019s Great Rift Valley \u2014 has already listed plants and animals most likely to decline because of climate change: these include 33 plants used for fuel, construction, food and medicine and 19 species of freshwater fish and 24 mammals used by humans as sources of food.<\/p>\n
Jamie Carr of the IUCN said \u201cThis is particularly important for the poorest and most marginalised communities who rely most directly on wild species to meet their basic needs.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.truthdig.com\/images\/eartothegrounduploads\/5532543792_3d4a4131c4.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
By Tim Radford, Climate News Network<\/b><\/p>\n
This piece first appeared at Climate News Network<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n LONDON\u2013Climate change doesn\u2019t just threaten species that are already vulnerable \u2014 it could have alarming consequences for a huge range of birds, corals and amphibians that no-one had considered in danger of extinction before, according to a new study.<\/p>\n Wendy Foden of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature\u2019s global species programme and colleagues examined the findings of 100 scientists over the last five years and looked for the biological and ecological characteristics that might make an animal more or less sensitive or adaptable to climate change.<\/p>\n Many of the planet\u2019s birds, corals and amphibians are already threatened with extinction, often because of unsustainable logging, the growth of agriculture and so on, and climate change is likely to make their plight even more precarious.<\/p>\n But unexpectedly, the authors report<\/a> in the journal PLOS One \u2014 the Public Library of Science – that they also found that 83% of the birds, 66% of the amphibians and 70% of the corals highly vulnerable to climate change, are not, right now, considered to be in need of conservation measures.<\/p>\n Alarming surprises<\/b><\/p>\n The study<\/a> focused on the three taxonomic groups because all three have been well studied \u2014 naturalists have described 9,856 species of bird; 6204 species of amphibian and 797 reef building corals and the fact that they can be numbered so precisely is an indicator of the attention paid to these groups \u2014 and because they contain creatures that dwell on land, in freshwater and in the oceans: the three great \u201cbiomes\u201d or homes for life.<\/p>\n \u201cThe findings reveal alarming surprises,\u201d said Foden. \u201cWe hadn\u2019t expected that so many species and areas that were not previously considered to be of concern would emerge as highly vulnerable to climate change.<\/p>\n \u201cClearly, if we simply carry on with conservation as usual, without taking climate change into account, we\u2019ll fail to help many of the species and areas that need it most.\u201d<\/p>\n Her IUCN colleague and co-author Jean-Christophe Vi\u00c3\u00a9 called the research \u201ca leap forward\u201d for conservation. Besides providing a clearer picture of the challenge, he said \u201cwe now also know the biological characteristics that create their climate change \u2018weak points\u2019. This gives us an enormous advantage in meeting their conservation needs.\u201d<\/p>\n Resources disappear<\/b><\/p>\n That climate change due to human-induced greenhouse greenhouse gas emissions presents a threat to other species is not of itself news: Climate Network News stories have almost every month highlighted hazards to humans and mammals, to figs and fig wasps, to species caught in swiftly-moving climate zones, and to those sub-Arctic plants and animals that actually depend on snowfall to offer some sort of stable cover for the winter.<\/p>\n But there has always been a tacit assumption that the first victims of changing climate would be among those species already at risk: the IUCN\u2019s Red List number 20,000 of these. The new maps of areas at risk now suggest that the problems of conservation extend much wider.<\/p>\n The Amazon region hosts the highest concentrations of vulnerable birds and amphibians, and the \u201ccoral triangle\u201d of the central Indo-West Pacific is home to the highest numbers of vulnerable corals.<\/p>\n A separate study of the so-called Albertine Rift \u2014 the western part of East Africa\u2019s Great Rift Valley \u2014 has already listed plants and animals most likely to decline because of climate change: these include 33 plants used for fuel, construction, food and medicine and 19 species of freshwater fish and 24 mammals used by humans as sources of food.<\/p>\n Jamie Carr of the IUCN said \u201cThis is particularly important for the poorest and most marginalised communities who rely most directly on wild species to meet their basic needs.\u201d\n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n