Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
flowering species (Sherry et al., 2007). In the future, increasing temperatures
may also affect the production, toxicity, and/or pollen-producing capacity
of allergenic and toxic plants, including ragweed and poison ivy (Mohan
et al., 2008; Shea et al., 2008; Ziska et al., 2009). Allergy incidence may
also be increased by interactions between airborne allergens and air pol-
lution (D'Amato and Cecchi, 2008). Uncertainties in future emissions and
the coupling between climate, air quality, and ecosystem models, however,
render speculative any determination of the degree of change (Bernard and
Ebi, 2001; Gamble et al., 2008).
5.7 ECOLOGY AND ECOSYSTEMS
Terrestrial Species and Climate Change: What Species Are Up Against
As the climate changed throughout the past millennia, species shifted
to track temperature, precipitation, and other weather factors (Graham and
Grimm, 1990; Overpeck et al., 1992). The geographic range of any species
includes only areas where individuals can endure the extreme temperature
and water stress occurring at those locations (Gordon,1982; Chown and
Gaston, 1999). Indeed, the ranges of various songbirds in North America
are limited by the amount of metabolic energy an individual must exert
to stay alive (Root, 1988a,b). Warming in the late-Quaternary resulting in
species tracking the changing climate gradient (Graham and Grimm, 1990).
Additionally, these species differentially tracked their own unique set of
climatic factors, which resulted in many species occurring in unexpected
areas (Graham and Grimm, 1990) and new species groups being formed
(Overpeck et al., 1992; Hobbs et al., 2009).
Today species continue to shift and change with current climate change.
Additionally, if we remain on the “Business as Usual” scenario, then on a
sustained global basis the expected rate of change in temperature in the
next few decades could be higher than most species have endured over
millennia (Hoeg-Guldberg et al., 2007; Loarie et al., 2009; NRC, 2009).
In addition the face of the planet is very different from how it has ever
been before because people have altered it considerably by constructing
various structures on the landscape, such as cities, farms, and roadways.
These frequently make movement of species across an area difficult. This is
particularly true for species that are slow moving, such as turtles, but it is
also true for animals that can move more quickly, including birds, bats, and
butterflies. Even with these impediments, many species are changing with
the globally changing climate. Indeed, with an increase in the average global
