Ecological Consequences of Climate Change: Mechanisms, Conservation, and Management
Features
• Provides mechanistic understanding for climate-change effects on biotas
• Synthesizes climate-change information from diverse taxa, ecological processes, and ecosystem contexts
• Offers contributions from internationally respected experts on ecological effects of, and responses to, climate change
• Presents the general trends expected in wildlife and ecological responses to climate change
• Discusses long- and short-term strategies to reduce the effects of climate change in wildlife science and ecology
• Includes illustrations and an insert with eight color figures
Summary
Contemporary climate change is a crucial management challenge for wildlife scientists, conservation biologists, and ecologists of the 21st century. Climate fingerprints are being detected and documented in the responses of hundreds of wildlife species and numerous ecosystems around the world. To mitigate and accommodate the influences of climate change on wildlife and ecosystems, broader-scale conservation strategies are needed.
Ecological Consequences of Climate Change: Mechanisms, Conservation, and Management provides a mechanistic understanding of biotic responses to climate change, in order to better inform conservation and management strategies. Incorporating modeling and real-world examples from diverse taxa, ecosystems, and spatio-temporal scales, the book first presents research on recently observed rapid shifts in temperature and precipitation. It then explains how these shifts alter the biotic landscape within species and ecosystems, and how they may be expected to impose changes in the future. Also included are major sections on monitoring and conservation efforts in the face of contemporary climate change. Contributors highlight the general trends expected in wildlife and ecological responses as well as the exceptions and contingencies that may mediate those responses.
Topics covered include:
• Description and quantification of how aspects of climate have recently changed, and may change in the future
• Species-level and higher-order ecological responses to climate change and variability
• Approaches to monitor and interpret ecological effects of climatic variability
• Conservation and management efforts
The book discusses the quantification of the magnitude and variability in short-term responses, and delineates patterns of relative vulnerability among species and community types. It offers suggestions for designing investigations and management actions, including the long-term monitoring of ecological consequences of rapid climate change. It also identifies many of the biggest gaps in current knowledge, proposing avenues for further research. Bringing together many of the world’s leading experts on ecological effects of climate change, this unique and timely volume constitutes a valuable resource for practitioners, researchers, and students.
Contents
THE BASIS OF RECENT CLIMATE CHANGE: CLIMATE-SCIENCE FOUNDATIONS
Western Climate Change, Philip W. Mote and Kelly T. Redmond
SINGLE- AND MULTIPLE-SPECIES RELATIONSHIPS TO CLIMATE CHANGE
Amphibian Population Declines and Climate Change, Andrew R. Blaustein, Catherine Searle, Betsy A. Bancroft, and Joshua Lawler
Minimizing Uncertainty in Interpreting Responses of Butterflies to Climate Change, Erica Fleishman and Dennis D. Murphy
Advances, Limitations, and Synergies in Predicting Changes in Species’ Distribution and Abundance under Contemporary Climate Change, Enrique Martínez-Meyer
Mammalian Distributional Responses to Climatic Changes: A Review and Research Prospectus, Robert Guralnick, Liesl Erb, and Chris Ray
HIGHER-LEVEL ECOLOGICAL RELATIONSHIPS TO CLIMATE CHANGE
Effects of Climate Change on the Elevational Limits of Species Ranges, Robert J. Wilson and David Gutiérrez
Climate Change and Sandy Beach Ecosystems, Alan R. Jones
Response of Western Mountain Ecosystems to Climatic Variability and Change: A Collaborative Research Approach, David L. Peterson, Craig D. Allen, Jill S. Baron, Daniel B. Fagre, Don McKenzie, Nathan L. Stephenson, Andrew G. Fountain, Jeffrey A. Hicke, George P. Malanson, Dennis S. Ojima, Christina L. Tague, and Phillip J. van Mantgem
MONITORING ECOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES OF CLIMATE CHANGE
Precipitation Climatology at Selected LTER Sites: Regionalization and Dominant Circulation Patterns, Douglas G. Goodin
Dealing with Uncertainty: Managing and Monitoring Canada’s Northern National Parks in a Rapidly Changing World, Donald McLennan
CONSERVATION EFFORTS IN THE FACE OF RAPID CLIMATE CHANGE
Ensuring That Protected Areas Play an Effective Role in Mitigating Climate Change, Nigel Dudley, Linda Krueger, Kathy MacKinnon, and Sue Stolton
Resource Managers Rise to the Challenge of Climate Change, Melinda G. Knutson and Patricia J. Heglund
CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH NEEDS
Ecological Consequences of Climate Change: Synthesis and Research Needs, Erik A. Beever and Jerrold L. Belant
Index
