By ScienceDaily, October 17, 2012
A new study,
published online Oct. 17, 2012 in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, reviewed
136 case studies to determine the underlying causes of why many populations
have gone extinct due to changing climate.
The article,
entitled "How does climate change cause extinction?" describes
research led by John J. Wiens, an Associate Professor in the Department of
Ecology and Evolution at Stony Brook University and by PhD students Abigail E.
Cahill and Matthew E. Aiello-Lammens.
According to the
authors, extinctions of plant and animal populations from human-related climate
change are already widespread, but the causes of these extinctions are very
poorly understood.
Contrary to
expectations given global warming, the results of the study show that very few
populations have gone extinct simply because temperatures got too hot for the
plants and animals to survive.
"Instead,"
said Dr. Wiens, "climate change more often leads to local extinctions and
declines by influencing interactions between species, such as reducing prey
populations for predators. These shifting interactions may make even small
climatic changes dangerous for the survival of plant and animal species. So,
for example, many animals may starve to death because of climate change long
before the climate gets hot enough for them to die from overheating."
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Stony Brook University.Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Abigail E. Cahill, Matthew E. Aiello-Lammens, M. Caitlin Fisher-Reid, Xia Hua, Caitlin J. Karanewsky, Hae Yeong Ryu, Gena C. Sbeglia, Fabrizio Spagnolo, John B. Waldron, Omar Warsi, and John J. Wiens. How does climate change cause extinction? Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2012; DOI:10.1098/rspb.2012.1890 1471-2954
1 comment:
The correct link for the DOI given in the journal reference is
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.1890
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