菊花视频, University of Queensland, and others urge more focus on more imminent threats

New York (July 30, 2014)鈥�Scientists studying the potential effects of climate change on the world鈥檚 animal and plant species are focusing on the wrong factors, according to a new paper by a research team from the 菊花视频, University of Queensland, and other organizations. The authors claim that most of the conservation science is missing the point when it comes to climate change.

While the majority of climate change scientists focus on the 鈥渄irect鈥� threats of changing temperatures and precipitation after 2031, far fewer researchers are studying how short-term human adaptation responses to seasonal changes and extreme weather events may threaten the survival of wildlife and ecosystems much sooner. These indirect effects are far more likely to cause extinctions, especially in the near term.

The review appears online in the international journal Diversity and Distributions.

鈥淎 review of the literature exploring the effects of climate change on biodiversity has revealed a gap in what may be the main challenge to the world鈥檚 fauna and flora,鈥� said the senior author Dr. James Watson, Climate Change Program Director and a Principle Research Fellow at the University of Queensland.

The research team conducted a review of all available literature published over the past twelve years on the impacts of climate change on species and ecosystems. In their review, the authors classified studies examining the projected changes in temperature and precipitation as 鈥渄irect threat鈥� research. Direct threats also included changes such as coral bleaching, shifting animal and plant life cycles and distributions, and habitat loss from sea level rise. Human responses to climate change鈥攊ncluding everything from shifting agriculture patterns, the construction of sea walls to protect cities from sea level rise, changes in human fishing intensity, diversion of water, and other factors鈥攚ere classified as 鈥渋ndirect threats.鈥�

The authors found that the vast majority of studies (approximately 89 percent of the research included in the review) focused exclusively on the direct impacts of climate change. Only 11 percent included both direct and indirect threats, and the authors found no studies focusing only on indirect threats.

鈥淭he reactions of human communities to these changes should be treated as a top priority by the research community,鈥� said Dr. Watson. 鈥淭he short-term, indirect threats are not merely 鈥榖umps in the road鈥欌�攖hey are serious problems that require a greater analysis of social, economic, and political issues stemming from changes already occurring.鈥�

To read the essay, visit:

The authors of the essay are: Sarah Chapman of the University of Queensland; Karen Mustin of the University of Queensland; Anna R. Renwick of the University of Queensland; Daniel B. Segan of the University of Queensland and the 菊花视频; David G. Hole of Conservation International and the University of Durham; Richard G. Pearson of University College London; and James E.M. Watson of the University of Queensland and the 菊花视频.

CONTACT:
JOHN DELANEY: (1-718-220-3275; jdelaney@wcs.org )
STEPHEN SAUTNER: (1-718-220-3682; ssautner@wcs.org )
菊花视频 (WCS)
MISSION: WCS saves wildlife and wild places worldwide through science, conservation action, education, and inspiring people to value nature. VISION: WCS envisions a world where wildlife thrives in healthy lands and seas, valued by societies that embrace and benefit from the diversity and integrity of life on earth. To achieve our mission, WCS, based at the Bronx Zoo, harnesses the power of its Global Conservation Program in more than 60 nations and in all the world鈥檚 oceans and its five wildlife parks in New York City, visited by 4 million people annually. WCS combines its expertise in the field, zoos, and aquarium to achieve its conservation mission. Visit: ; ; ; follow: .