Species shifts (main)

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Most organisms are sensitive to the environmental perturbations that they already have experienced as a result of climate change.

Golden Toad (Bufo periglenes) in a Costa Rican cloud forest. This species is presumed extinct because it has not been seen since 1989.

C. H. Smith, US Fish & Wildlife Service

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Genes (main)

Habitat shifts (main)

Populations (main)

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  • Invasive Plant Abundance Featured Article Invasive Plant Abundance Invasive Plant Abundance
    Home and Away: Are Invasive Plant Species Really That Special? Invasive plants are a major environmental problem--but how abundant are they? Invasive plant species... More »
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    The seas in which corals and other calcifying species dwell are turning acidic, their pH slowly dropping as Earth's oceans acidify in response to increased carbon dioxide... More »
Recently Updated
Bird.jpg Climate change effects on birds Last Updated on 2014-09-06 19:35:56 Many birds species all over the world are highly sensitive to the effects of climate change. Scientists have found declines of up to 90 percent in some bird populations, as well as total and unprecedented reproductive failure in others, althought the role of any change in climate is typically not determined. Population declines generally have several associative causal factors including habitat loss, habitat fragmentation and pollution. Specific groups that are at high risk from climate change include migratory birds, mountain birds, island birds, wetland birds, Arctic birds, Antarctic birds and seabirds. Bird species that can move easily to new habitat are expected to continue to do well; however, bird species that thrive only in a narrow environmental range can be expected to decline, and to be outcompeted by invasive species. With a 0.8°C average... More »
Coral-NSF Moorea Coral Reef LTER Site.jpg Ocean acidification troubles Last Updated on 2012-08-09 00:00:00 The seas in which corals and other calcifying species dwell are turning acidic, their pH slowly dropping as Earth's oceans acidify in response to increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Trouble in Paradise: Ocean Acidification This Way Comes Sustainability of tropical corals in question, but some species developing survival mechanisms The following Discovery article is part two in a series on the National Science Foundation's Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability (SEES) investment. Visit parts one, three, four, five, six and seven in this series. The following is part five in a series on the National Science Foundation's Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network. Visit parts one, two, three, four, six, seven, eight and nine in this series. Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and caldron bubble. —Shakespeare,... More »
InvasivePlantsAbundance 1.jpg Invasive Plant Abundance Last Updated on 2011-02-01 00:00:00 Home and Away: Are Invasive Plant Species Really That Special? Invasive plants are a major environmental problem--but how abundant are they? Invasive plant species are a serious environmental, economic and social problem worldwide. Their abundance can lead to lost native biodiversity and such ecosystem functions as nutrient cycling. Despite substantial research, however, little is known about why some species dominate new habitats over native plants that technically should have the advantage. A common but rarely tested assumption, say biologists,is that these plants behave in a special way, making them more abundant when introduced into communities versus native plants that are already there. If true, it would mean that biosecurity screening procedures need to address how species will behave once introduced to nonnative communities--very... More »
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