Climate Change Effects on Animal Distributions and Evolution Jeremy E. Guinn Environmental Science Program Sitting Bull College

Effects on animal populations are explicitly tied to the disturbance of ecological processes. INTRODUCTION

Increased Intensity of Storms increased flooding increased erosion increased sedimentation Habitat loss, degradation, or change INTRODUCTION

Melting Ice Caps Changes in migration patterns Changes in food availability Changes in habitat Loss of species and entire ecosystems INTRODUCTION

Drought & Desertification Changes in Vegetative Community Changes in Food Web Changes in Habitat Loss of species and entire ecosystems INTRODUCTION

Climate Change Increased Intensity of Storms Melting Ice Caps Drought & Desertification Loss of species and entire ecosystems INTRODUCTION

Effects on Animal Populations I. Loss of Biodiversity II. Changes in Disease Outbreaks III. Changes in Range Distributions IV. Changes in Co-evolution and Timing Events V. Increases in Generalists, Decreases in Specialists

Loss of Biodiversity What is Diversity? The key to conservation is maintaining and improving biodiversity. What is Biodiversity?

Loss of Biodiversity Species Richness How is Biodiversity Measured? Species Evenness Index of Diversity

Loss of Biodiversity

Amphibian DeclinesBleaching of Coral Reefs Loss of Fisheries

Changes in Disease Outbreaks Changes in precipitation are tied to fungal, bacterial, and viral diseases that affect animals or are carried by animals. Golden Frog— Costa Rica Extinct due to a bacterial infection outbreak

Changes in Disease Outbreaks

Yukon River 45% of Chinook Salmon now infected by protozoan parasite, Ichthyophonus, never found in the area before (Kocan et al. 2004) Presence of Ichthyophonus tied to increases in water temperature

Changes in Disease Outbreaks North Dakota June 2009—Snapping Turtle Die-off tied to bacterial infection reportedly caused by severe winter and flooding

Analyses of data from the past 40 years of Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count reveal that 58% of the 305 widespread species that winter on the continent have shifted significantly north since 1968, some by hundreds of kilometers. Changes in Range Distributions

A 3 o C increase would result in drying of much of the “prairie potholes” causing major declines in aquatic communities.

Changes in Range Distributions Altitudinal shifts up mountainsides to cope with warmer temperatures.

Changes in Range Distributions Banks Island, Canada - Expanded Ranges. The Inuit now regularly see species common much further south that previously were never seen on the island, such as robins and barn swallows. Thunder and lightning, never before recorded in Inuit oral history, have also been reported (Ashford and Castleden, 2001).

Changes in Co-evolution & Timing Events What is Co-evolution? European Ecosystem— Flowers bloom, butterflies produce caterpillars, bird eggs hatch—all timed together for the benefit of all parties. Observations over 47 years showed that birds maintained their timing, but caterpillars peaked two weeks earlier.

Increases in Generalists and Introduced Species Less competition from specialists will allow some generalist to expand. Warmer northern regions will allow species to expand.

Decreases in Specialists Species that have a small ecological niche will decline as these habitats are altered by climate change.

Decreases in Specialists Lynx— The feline's main prey, the snowshoe hare, lives in deep snow cover in boreal forest. Because they rely so heavily on hares for food, lynx are adapted to live in areas with snow cover at least four months out of the year.

Summary Some animal populations will be severely impacted by climate change. Others species may benefit from new conditions. However, biodiversity will almost certainly be decreased and many species will go extinct.

Summary “The combination of rising temperatures and winter precipitation amounts therefore trends toward earlier and more dramatic spring snowmelts and higher stream-flow conditions in winter and spring, with an expected increase in potentially significant flood events such as the 1997 Red River flood of Grand Forks that destroyed nearly 90% of the city and caused over $1 billion in damage.” —in Philander (2008).