Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
lio of habitats in different development stages to ensure that habitat of a par-
ticular stage is represented on the landscape at any particular time.
Global Climate Change and Reshuffling of Faunas
In chapter 3 we learned that many species are uniquely adapted to live in
specific ecosystems on this planet.Those adaptations include tolerance to
hot or cold, dry or wet, sun or shade.We also learned that global climate
change is being brought about by human activity exacerbating natural
greenhouse warming in ways that will alter the earth's climate.The conse-
quence is that habitats and the animal species that depend upon them are
expected to undergo major shifts in their geographic locations (Parmesan
and Yohe 2003).This may be the Achilles heel of national parks and pro-
tected areas that are designed to protect species and their habitats within the
confines of fixed political boundaries.
Indeed, an analysis evaluating the effectiveness of eight selected U.S. na-
tional parks in protecting mammalian species diversity in the face of global
change suggests that they are not likely to meet their mandate of protect-
ing current biodiversity within park boundaries (Burns et al. 2003). Based
on current assessments of future climate change, U.S. national parks stand
to lose between 0 and 20 percent of their current mammalian species di-
versity in any one park.
Species losses should come from all mammalian species except Artio-
dactyla (hoofed mammals).The majority of losses will be for rodent, bat,
and carnivore species. But, the parks should also gain other species because
of the reshuffling of species across the landscape (Burns et al. 2003). Parks
are expected to gain between 11 percent and 92 percent more species rel-
ative to current numbers. Species reshuffling is predicted to be dominated
by an influx of rodents followed by carnivores and bats.The projected in-
flux of new species is expected to be
greatest for parks at more northerly
latitudes because, as described in
chapter 3, most species are expected
either to expand their geographic
range or shift their ranges to new ge-
ographic locations nearer the poles.
In the balance, all parks could re-
alize a substantial gain in mammalian
species composition as a consequence
North American parks could realize
a substantial gain in mammalian
species composition as a conse-
quence of geographic shift in
species. But this shift will be of a
magnitude unprecedented in recent
geological time.
