Proceedings of Aquatic Biodiversity Intrnational Conference 2011 (original) (raw)
Related papers
Climate change and the future of freshwater biodiversity in Europe: a primer for policy-makers
Freshwater …, 2009
Earth's climate is changing, and by the end of the 21st century in Europe, average temperatures are likely to have risen by at least 2 °C, and more likely 4 °C, with associated effects on patterns of precipitation and the frequency of extreme weather events. Attention among policy-makers is divided about how to minimise the change, how to mitigate its effects, how to maintain the natural resources on which societies depend and how to adapt human societies to the changes. Natural systems are still seen, through a long tradition of conservation management that is largely species-based, as amenable to adaptive management, and biodiversity, mostly perceived as the richness of plant and vertebrate communities, often forms a focus for planning. We argue that prediction of particular species changes will be possible only in a minority of cases but that prediction of trends in general structure and operation of four generic freshwater ecosystems (erosive rivers, depositional floodplain rivers, shallow lakes and deep lakes) in three broad zones of Europe (Mediterranean, Central and Arctic-Boreal) is practicable. Maintenance and rehabilitation of ecological structures and operations will inevitably and incidentally embrace restoration of appropriate levels of species biodiversity. Using expert judgement, based on an extensive literature, we have outlined, primarily for lay policy makers, the pristine features of these systems, their states under current human impacts, how these states are likely to alter with a warming of 2 °C to 4 °C and what might be done to mitigate this. We have avoided technical terms in the interests of communication, and although we have included full referencing as in academic papers, we have eliminated degrees of detail that could confuse broad policy-making.
Austral Ecology, 2012
Changing climate and a changing planet In June 2008, one of us chanced upon a shepherd repairing his five-ft high (he didn't deal in metres) dry limestone walls on the uplands near Asby Scar in Cumbria, northwest England. We exchanged pleasantries that inevitably, this was Britain after all, embraced the weather. It was a bright warm day. But 'Bleak in winter up here' I said. 'Not so much in the past fifteen years' he replied, 'Before that the snow lay in drifts hiding the walls, but not any more'. It was yet another anecdotal sliver of evidence to complement the mass of information assembled by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 2007) on the reality of global warming. That Fourth Report of the IPCC summarized changes to date (Fig. 1.1) that included an almost 1°C increase in the northern hemisphere mean air temperature, over the years since the industrial revolution accelerated the yet unabated burning of fossil fuels. It presented evidence that these processes were related and that we could have high confidence that the temperature rise was largely human-induced. Linked with it have been changes in the distribution of rainfall, with generally more falling in winter or wet seasons and less in the summer and dry seasons. There has been an increase in sea level of about 20 cm, largely due to thermal expansion of the huge mass of oceanic water, to which the melting of the mountain and polar glaciers is now making a contribution. And there has been an increase in the frequency of extreme weather events, such as cyclones, droughts and floods. In turn, there have been numerous records of changes in the phenology of species (
Impact of Climate change on Aquatic Ecosystem and its Biodiversity: An overview.
International Journal of Biological Innovations, 2021
Climate change results from the increase in the greenhouse gas emission in the atmosphere and this comes as a consequence of various anthropogenic activities. The dissolution of CO , which has 2 the largest share among the greenhouse gases in terms of contribution in global warming, threatening the continuation of life on earth. Changing climate is of vital importance because of major impacts by influencing water resources and agricultural economy. Climate change stresses exert complex pressure on aquatic biodiversity and natural aquatic resources. Water temperature change may alter the metabolism and physiology of aquatic animals thereby affecting the growth, fecundity, feeding behavior, distribution, migration and abundance of fish as well as other aquatic animals. Aquatic biodiversity, Aquatic ecosystem, Climate change, Fishes.
Conservation Letters
Plans are currently being drafted for the next decade of action on biodiversityboth the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and Biodiversity Strategy of the European Union (EU). Freshwater biodiversity is disproportionately threatened and under-prioritized relative to the marine and terrestrial biota, despite supporting a richness of species and ecosystems with their own intrinsic value and providing multiple essential ecosystem services. Future policies and strategies must have a greater focus on the unique ecology of freshwater life and its multiple threats, and now is a critical time to reflect on how this may be achieved. We identify priority topics including environmental flows, water quality, invasive species, integrated water resources management, strategic conservation planning, and emerging technologies for freshwater ecosystem monitoring. We synthesize these topics with decades of first-hand experience and recent literature into 14 special recommendations for global freshwater biodiversity conservation based on the successes and setbacks of European policy, management and research. Applying and following these recommendations will inform and enhance the ability of global and European post-2020 biodiversity agreements to halt and reverse the rapid global decline of freshwater biodiversity. Policy Background-The Global Freshwater Conservation Context
Environmental Conservation, 2002
The level of recognition of human impacts on climate, contained in the third assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 2001), surely represents a turning point in human history. Some impacts can now be factored into predictions of future states of the world's ecosystems, and, though some powerful countries may for the moment indicate otherwise, it is certainly more difficult now to ignore the concept of global human impacts on the environment and doubt their seriousness. But there are potential pit-falls in this progression; it worries me that attention to incremental albeit significant rises in sea level, for example, may divert serious concern away from the consequences of the ongoing intensive and extensive growth of human population, the sizeable global impact of which on the environment and human society can scarcely either be debated. Environmental science is challenging; it aspires to holism, but the resources and scientific tools are such that it ...
Ecological Indicators, 2015
We present a multi-trait approach to identify potentially vulnerable species of Ephemeroptera (mayflies), Plecoptera (stoneflies) and Trichoptera (caddisflies), collectively referred to as EPT, to the impacts of climate change (CC). The "climate change vulnerability score" (CCVS) is an aggregation of six autecological traits that are known to be associated with vulnerability to CC: endemism, micro-endemism, temperature preference, altitudinal preference, stream zonation preference, and life history. We assigned a vulnerability score (0invulnerable to 6highly vulnerable to climate change) to 1940 EPT species and discussed the applicability of the index at three spatial scales: (1) continental (Europe), (2) state (the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia) and (3) a river basin (the Ruhr River). We identified 157 EPT species (ca. 8%) as highly vulnerable to climate change (CCVS 4), including 95 species of caddisflies, 60 species of stoneflies and two species of mayflies. These are mostly found in France and Italy (52 species each), Spain and Slovenia (36 and 34, respectively), and Austria and Switzerland (30 species each), of which 95 are caddisflies, 60 stoneflies, and 2 mayflies. Using data collected in routine regional sampling we show that although no endemic EPTs were found in the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia, eight species can still be identified as relatively vulnerable to CC (CCVS of 3). Almost all of these species are occurring in the 'mountainous' regions of the state (>200 m a.s. l.), the Sauerland and the Eifel. The upper reaches of the Ruhr catchment have been found to be relatively rich in vulnerable species, including several locally rare species. This index can assist conservationists to identify "hotspots" in terms of climate vulnerability and climate change refuge areas that can be considered for protection or the application of restoration measures at a local and regional scale. Nevertheless, not all species have complete autecological information, which hinders our ability to fully recognize the areas of priority. To further stabilize and enhance the applicability of this method, it is essential to fill these knowledge gaps in the future.