Climate Change and Biodiversity

Over the recent years, climate change has had a variety of impacts across the globe. Majority of the changes caused by climate change are usually negative, affecting various ecosystems environmentally, socially, as well as economically. The degree to which climate change affects the biodiversity of ecosystems is uncertain, though it has been identified that at some point the changes are likely to be irreversible. The distribution, population, and functionality of ecosystems such as plants and animals are by far the worst hit areas as a result of the negative effects of climate change ( Anderson et al., 2017). There has been an overall rise in global temperatures, averaging around 0.74°C ( Anderson et al., 2017).

Climate change has led to adverse changes on the biophysical surroundings which presents as delayed and prolonged seasons, melting of ice in the Polar Regions which causes arise in ocean and sea level, and glacial retreat ( Anderson et al., 2017). Various trends have been realized with regard to ecosystem species distribution. For example, species which live in cold habitats have been reported to migrate towards the poles as a result of the increase in temperatures ( Anderson et al., 2017). This migration creates an imbalance by raising the population of these species polewards while decreasing their biodiversity in their native habitats. Over the past few decades, plant and animal species move to higher and cooler latitudes at approximately 36 feet per decade, and pole wards at approximately 16.9 kilometers per decade (( Anderson et al., 2017). At these rates, the level of competition for resources slowly diminishes until a point at which there is a maximum number of organisms which the ecosystems can support.

Changes in climate can affect species’ choice of habitat, interaction habits, and the occurrence of biological events, thus influencing an ecosystem’s current and future capacity to support life. Timing of events such as migration, breeding, and hibernation patterns are the main factors affected by adverse climate change (Brambilla et al., 2016) . For example, migration mismatch between the emergence of caterpillars and timing of long-distance migrant birds in Europe is as a result of climate change (Brambilla et al., 2016) . In addition, birds from the North Eastern regions of United States, which migrate to the southern regions during the winter, have been identified to migrate back to the North approximately 13 days than they did one century ago A study carried out in California showed approximately 16 out of 23 species of butterflies were affected by climate change resulting in an early shift in their migration patterns (Brambilla et al., 2016) .. The butterfly species migrated much earlier than the expected period. Some animals which hibernate due to cold weather conditions are reported to wake up much earlier than the expected time. Plants across different ecosystems also bloom early during the spring season.

Marine ecosystems are also widely affected by climate change. Factors affected include water oxygen content, nutrients, pH, and stratification (Brambilla et al., 2016) . For example, ice dominated Polar Regions suffer from a reduced amount of ice and increased temperature of the sea water which further affecting the availability of food, growth, and reproduction of life within these environments. For example, there has been a marked reduction in the population of Adelie penguins in the Polar Regions. These are a species of penguins whose only residence is the coast of the Antarctic continent. Their population has been reported to reduce by up to 80% in the region of Palmer Station, Antarctica, as a result of a reduction of sea ice and amounts of krill which serve as their main source of food (Brambilla et al., 2016) . A delay in the fall of snow has also been associated with the feared extinction of the Adelie penguin species. Fur seals and Gentoo penguin have since migrated to Palmer station in order to fill the ecological gap caused by a decrease in penguin population.

A decrease in the amount of ice also affects species residing in Polar Regions in other ways apart from the migration of organisms. For example, the melting of polar ice as a result of climate change results in the death of ice algae which lives in nutritious located within the ice (Foden and Young, 2016) . Ice algae are zooplankton, which acts as an important source of food for cod, which are a source of food for many marine animals such as seals, which are in turn sources of food for polar bears.

Climate change may lead to changes in ecosystems’ function and structure, through altered metabolism, and behavior. According to Foden and Young (2016), recent studies have indicated that climate changes are linked to an increase in the net productivity of species such as livestock in northern Europe while causing a decrease in productivity in areas with limited water supply. Majority of ecosystems become susceptible to disturbances such as floods, wildfires, and drought. Plant and animal species which are sensitive to climate change are less likely to adapt to these changes and resultantly reduce in population

Ecosystems which are most vulnerable to climate change include wetlands, alpines and aquatic habitats (Foden and Young, 2016) . The vulnerability can be traced to climatic ranges, limited dispersal chances, and the extent of non-climate pressures as well as narrow geographic ranges.

As per Foden and Young (2016), the resultant rise in sea levels occurring from climate change often leads to saltwater invading into freshwater systems. Coral reefs are homes to numerous varieties of fish, plants and other marine life than any other ecosystem in the globe (Foden and Young, 2016) . Reefs are greatly affected by changes in water temperature and pH, resulting to their high sensitivity in changes in these factors. As little as a change of 10C causes a phenomenon termed as coral bleaching (Foden and Young, 2016) . Coral bleaching is a loss in parlor resulting from the death of zooxanthellae and expelling of microorganisms which live in the coral reef tissues. Over the years rising temperatures and acidic conditions in the ocean waters have been reported to cause severe bleaching which causes the death of coral. Reefs which are chronically stressed are less likely to recover (Foden and Young, 2016).

Species that migrate adversely affect the food chain by creating an imbalance between the prey and predators. In the marine ecosystems, fish that live in water affected by rising ocean and sea temperatures expand their habitat and move into areas inhabited by cold water species of fish such as salmon. Trends in salmon migration patterns indicate that there is likely to be a 47 percent reduction in salmon species in the United States by 2080 ( Pecl et al., 2017 ). In western regions of the United States, the population is expected to drop by around 60 percent while other worst hit areas report losses of up to 90 percent ( Pecl et al., 2017 ).

Adverse changes in climate can also directly cause the death of plant and animal species that lack the ability to adapt to changes in their habitat while lacking the capacity to migrate to more favorable environments. For example, a small mammal known as the Pika resides majorly in the mountain regions of Asia, Northern, and Western America. The American pika is highly sensitive to high temperatures, succumbing when exposed to hot temperatures at altitudes less than 7,000 feet. Approximately one-third of the 25 populations of the pika which used to reside in the Great Basin between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada have disappeared over time ( Pecl et al., 2017 ).

The forecasted rise in mean global temperature is also linked to high risk of extinction of species in climate-sensitive regions. A study by IPCC AR4 reveals that around 10% of the species studied so far are highly likely to face extinction each time the global temperature rises by 1°C ( Pecl et al., 2017 ). The distribution of vegetative regions such as forests and deserts are expected to change in approximately 5 to 20 percent of the United States by 2100 ( Pecl et al., 2017 ). For example, the tundra biosystem consisting majorly of treeless regions within arctic regions and mountain tops is being invaded by boreal forests. Species such as snowy owls and arctic foxes which are valued for their unique traits now face the risk of extinction. Other examples of shifting trends that threaten to replace forest biosystem species include invasion of conifer forests by temperate broadleaf trees in the Green Mountains of Vermont and intrusion of the shrubland ecosystem into the conifer forests in New Mexico.

Changes in climate also favor the spread of diseases and disease-causing pathogens across ecosystems. For example, an oyster parasite called Perkinsus Marinus has migrated further towards the North Pole over the past few decades from the Chesapeake Bay to Maine in order to find more suitable habitat. Perkinsus marinus causes a large number of oyster deaths annually within the polar region ( Pecl et al., 2017 )

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