Looking Forward

Writing this blog week after week has been an enriching experience to say the least. I’ve learnt so much about an issue that I truly care about, and have relished the opportunity to share it with not only my friends and fellow students, but also the community at large.

Before I reflect on the process of creating this blog, however, I would like to take this opportunity to look forward, just for a moment, at what needs to be done if we are to have any hope of salvaging the species and biodiversity of our planet. 

As we have discussed time and time again, climate change is projected to have a huge impact on biodiversity at all levels. Such a phenomenon creates a significant challenge for conservation measures, and often can be overwhelming when considering where even to begin with tackling this problem. However, recommendations and directions for conservation do exist, and it is these I would like to discuss briefly.

One of the most important responses to this climate change, as I have argued previously, is continuing to develop scientific literature that sheds light on the nature of biodiversity change and provides guidance for effective conservation strategies. We need to continue to develop understanding if we hope to protect our flora and fauna, and that is why projects such as Nature’s Calendar are so important for supporting research. This science will become the backbone of any real-world response, and it is essential that it continues unhindered (Bellard et al.2012).

Also of critical importance, according to both Bellard et al. (2012) and Heller and Zavaleta(2009) is continued development of modelling techniques, as to reveal the nature of future risks, where they are greatest and how they will affect species and biodiversity. Modelling and projections will also be key in informing further conservation measures, such as the creation of new reserves and how best to develop landscape connectivity.

On the topic of reserves, both Bellard et al. (2012) and Heller and Zavaleta (2009) raise some interesting suggestions on how these also should be developed in the future. As Heller andZavaleta (2009) deftly point out, as climate forcings begin to affect species dynamics, reserves will lose their ability to protect the species they were designed for, as these species lose representation in these areas. This requires a change in the way that reserves are managed and created. Rather, the two papers suggest that the creation of new reserves should be based on both projected future hotspots of biodiversity (according to models) and also to create and sustain habitats for species that have a high conservation value, that is, species that provide strong ecological resilience and can influence local abiotic conditions, such as forests which help maintain cooler temperatures and precipitation.

Also key according to the two papers is the improvement and proliferation of habitat connectivity through the creation of corridors and stepping-stones that link ecosystems together. According to Bellard et al. (2012) and Heller and Zavaleta(2009), by rebuilding this connectivity, we can create pathways which allow species to migrate and escape to more suitable climate conditions. Where this is impossible, however, such as if there is no overlap between a species current and future range, or no possible pathways exist, more direct measures will need to be taken. Bellard et al.(2012) suggest that the answer may lie in human-assisted colonisation, or artificial species migration. Although typically there is a degree of controversy involved in direct human transportation of species, due to the risks they may pose as invasives, in these scenarios, it often appears that direct human assistance is the only solution to a human-created problem.

What is arguably most important, however, according to both papers, is the need for a shift from species-centred conservation strategies to a more holistic outlook that takes into account interactions within ecosystems, as well as the importance of functional and genetic diversity. This in turn needs to be integrated into a multi-disciplinary framework that fits conservation more neatly into the bigger picture of development and politics. If we can bring discussion of conservation into everyday decisions, rather than having it as a standalone venture, then maybe a more significant difference can be made.

Regardless of how much we adapt conservation to climate change however, it will always remain a process of treating the symptoms, and not the disease. In my mind the real “best solution” would be to stop climate warming in the first place. Although this is somewhat impossible now, due to the huge amounts of carbon already emitted into our atmosphere that will take generations to diffuse, reducing global warming as much as possible will be the greatest favour we can do to our non-human friends. As Urban (2015) points out, the level of warming is directly linked to the amount of species at risk of extinction. The prevention of further warming, then, should be the absolute priority in any conservation ventures.

That pretty much brings the blog to a close. We have taken this discussion from exploring the numerous and somewhat surprising ways in which climate influences the lives of species, to how this affects them as communities, all the way to how climate change will potentially erode ecosystems resilience and cause widespread extinction.

What you may have noticed throughout this blog is the absolute absence of anything that concerns human activity or involvement. I found in the literature that all too often the rationale for investigating the effects of climate and how to protect species came back to what value they offer humans through what are termed “ecosystems services”. This is a trap I did not want to fall into in my blog. Although some may criticise me for not addressing what is considered a huge part of the ecological paradigm, I wanted to investigate climate change from a flora and fauna point of view, where I could focus on all species at risk, rather than just those humans find most cute or convenient.

In any case, I have found writing this blog to be a hugely sobering experience. I came into this project, and this module, feeling relatively optimistic about the outlook for our planet and the flora and fauna that inhabit it. Throughout my research however, I have seen time and time again the enormity of the challenge that is now facing life on our planet. Flora and fauna are seemingly assaulted from all sides by climate change and other human factors, with little hope of relief. The magnitude and speed of change is relentless, and in most cases absolutely dwarfs the ability of those affected to respond. I am no longer shocked when I read projections for species extinctions, as it is simply a fact that humans, through their own selfish misuse of resources and the environment, have already crossed a threshold of expected warming that dooms numerous species to extinction and will result in the loss of the lives of countless organisms. Even if we curb the planet’s warming now, there are numerous species, such as those that are endemic or birds and amphibians that are particularly sensitive to climate forcing, that simply will not be able to cope with the new world we have created.

I wish I could end this blog on a happy note or on an upbeat piece of news, however I feel to do so would be to betray the tone and message that this blog has portrayed over the past few months. Climate change and its effects on our biosphere are anything but a happy affair. I am no idealist, and personally can only see things becoming a lot worse for our flora and fauna before they become better. A lot of lives and a lot of species will have to be lost before humankind learns its lesson. The truth of the matter is that we are living in mankind’s world now, and it is no longer very clear whether animals and plants have that much of a place in it.