“Follow the Spiders”: Ecosystems as Early Warnings - Reducing Disaster: Early Warning Systems for Climate Change - page 329

Chapter 18
“Follow the Spiders”: Ecosystems as Early
Warnings
Zinta Zommers
Abstract This chapter evaluates the potential use of bioindicators in early warning
systems. Bioindicators are biological processes, species, or communities, which are
used to assess changes in the environment or environmental quality. Theoretically,
they could also provide advanced warning of hazards. Bioindicators can be inex-
pensive, locally relevant, and can encourage stakeholder participation in early
warning system development and maintenance. While bioindicators have been
identifi ed for environmental problems such as air pollution and water pollution, and
have been used to assess health of ecosystems, little information is available on
bioindicators for climate-related hazards. This chapter highlights possible bioindi-
cators for droughts, wildfi res, and tropical cyclones, based on the results of a litera-
ture review. Indigenous knowledge offers a wealth of possible bioindicators,
including animal and insect behavior and plant phenology. Yet, such indicators need
to be verifi ed and evaluated against criteria such as specifi city, variability, monoto-
nicity, practicality, and relevance. Bioindicators may not be specifi c to individual
hazards and may provide limited advanced warning, as response often occurs after
the actual onset of the hazard. Furthermore, indicators may become increasingly
unreliable due to climate change itself. There is a need for a large-scale assessment
of hazard bioindicators, which should also include forecasts of bioindicator change
under global warming, and a cost-benefi t analysis of the value of integrating bioin-
dicators into early warning systems. For these processes, lessons can be drawn from
ethnopharmacology.
Keywords Bioindicator • Traditional knowledge • Early warning • Forest fi re •
Drought • Cyclone