Climate Change and

Endangered Species

Ignite at ESA 2013: The Endangered Species Act Turns 40: Lessons Learned for Conservation of Threatened and Endangered Species in the USA

Camille Parmesan

National Marine Aquarium Chair in Public Understanding of Oceans and Human Health, Marine Institute, Plymouth University, England

Section of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin

Declines and Range Contract ions of Sea Ice-Species in Arct ic & Antarct ic

Ringed Seal

Adelie & Emperor penguins

Antarctic

2002-2007 NOAA

Ice-dependent penguins declining by 70 - 95%

Ice-dependent penguins increasing or smaller declines (<20%)

Smith et al. Bioscience 1999; Fraser et al. Polar Biol. 1992; Emslie et al. Ant. Science 1998

2007 NOAA

Arctic

apollo, Europe & Nepal

Parmesan Ann Rev Ecol Evol Syst 2006

white lemuroid possum , Australia

- extinct

pika, USA & Nepal

IUCN: 23% amphibians at risk of extinction from climate change (1431 sp)

golden toad, Costa Rica - extinct

Mountaintop Species

•  Many spec ies have con t rac ted upward

•  F i rs t ex t inc t ions

Purple emperor (Apatura iris)

Ryrholm unpub.; Kaila & Kullberg pers. Comm.; Henriksen & Kreutzer 1982 Parmesan et al. Nature, 1999

2 independent invasions

65% of 52 butterf l ies colonized northward at northern range boundary (30-200 km, 30-100 years, 0.6°C warming)

Birds and but ter f l ies moving f rom Afr ica in to Europe

Plain tiger (Danaus chrysippus)

Desert orange tip (Colotis evagore)

Haeger, Shilap 1999

Jordano et al. J. Biogeog. 1991

.... and from Mexico into Texas and California

Mexican Green Jay

Dauphin et al., Lep Soc 2005; P Schappert pers comm

Poloczanska et al Nature Climate Change 2013; Chen et al. Science 2011; Parmesan & Yohe Nature 2003; Parmesan Ann Rev Ecol Evol Syst 2006  

Species Shi f t ing in to Histor ica l ly Cooler Lands and Waters (~4000 species)

Marine: 75 km/decade

Terrestrial: 6.1 - 17 km/decade

Butterflies > 200 km in 5 yrs

Purple emperor

Birds migrant to resident in < 10 yrs

Rufous hummingbird

bony fish: >200 km/dec Atlantic cod

Phytoplankton > 400 km/dec

Poloczanska et al Nature Climate Change 2013; Chen et al. Science 2011; Parmesan & Yohe Nature 2003; Parmesan Ann Rev Ecol Evol Syst 2006  

Marine: 75 km/decade

Terrestrial: 6.1 - 17 km/decade

Butterflies > 200 km in 5 yrs

Purple emperor

Birds migrant to resident in < 10 yrs

Rufous hummingbird

bony fish: >200 km/dec Atlantic cod

Phytoplankton > 400 km/dec

Species Shi f t ing in to Histor ica l ly Cooler Lands and Waters (~4000 species)

Impacts of climate change: 0.7°C globally since 1900

• ~ half of species have shifted their ranges poleward "(50 - 1600 km) and/or upward (up to 400 m) "

• ~ two-thirds of species studied have shifted towards " "earlier spring breeding, migrating, blooming…."

• Every major group studied has been affected"•  trees, herbs, butterflies, birds, mammals, amphibians, "corals, invertebrates, fish, marine mammals & plankton "

• Impacts have occurred on every major continent and in every major ocean""

Poloczanska et al Nature Climate Change 2013; Rosenzweig et al Nature 2008; IPCC 2007; Parmesan AREES 2006; Root et al. Nature 2003; Parmesan & Yohe Nature 2003

Cl imate Change Invasion: From Austra l ia to Tasmania

l ong-sp ined sea u rch in (Cent ros tephanus rodgers i i ) des t roys Tasman ian ke lp

wat

er

tem

pera

ture

°C

Ocean o f f Tasman ia warmed above 12 °C th resho ld fo r Cr urch in reproduc t ion

Ling et al Global Change Biol 2008; Ling et al. GCB 2009, Ling et al. PNAS 2009, Ling & Johnson Ecol Appl 2012.

Spiny Lobster Jasus edwards i i :

•  Only p reda to r la rge enough to feed on la rge invas ive u rch in

•  Urch in no t invas ive in Mar ine Pro tec ted Areas w i th hea l thy lobs te r popu la t ions

Recovery of Coral Reefs Reduced by Over- f ish ing

- Grea t Bar r ie r ree f b leached in 1998 E l N iño - Recovery 5 years la te r on ly in hea l thy ree fs

Unhealthy Reef • Few fish • Algal growth prevents

coral recovery

Healthy Reef • Fish eat algae • Coral recovering

Hughes et al. Current Biology 2007

More Extreme High Ocean Temperatures have caused Bleaching of Reefs Globally

•  ~30 % of world’s reefs have not recovered after bleaching

•  Stressed reefs recover poorly (lower resilience)

•  How much would we have lost if all reefs had been healthy? less than we have

How much can we save by improving health & increasing both resistance and resilience?

Endangered Sub-species of Euphydryas editha

E. editha taylori

E. editha bayensis

E. editha quino

Endangered species - Quino checkerspot butterfly

•  Endangered in S California by urban growth •  Threatened in Mexico by warming/drying climate

Assisted Colonization

Hoegh-Guldberg et al. Science 2008

Surpr ise! Endangered quino checkerspot adapting to cl imate change?

Newly discovered colonies outside of species’ historical range - slated for protection (Parmesan & Anderson, J Fish Wildlife Management in revision)

Keir Morse

Surpr ise! Endangered quino checkerspot adapting to cl imate change?

Newly discovered colonies outside of species’ historical range - slated for protection (Parmesan & Anderson, J Fish Wildlife Management in revision)

Keir Morse

Native tropical lowland rainforest

Peatlands

Native sea grass

10 ft

Deep Roots

Native Little bluestem

Restoration needed to provide habitat & corridors

- Allows species to track shifting climate

Native American Prairie

Malhi & Grace 2000; Mahaney et al. 2008; Franzluebbers 2005; Poteet unpubl; H. Joosten COP15

Native tropical lowland rainforest 406 tons C/hectare

Peatlands

7x-10x more C-storage

Native sea grass 710 tons C/hectare

10 ft

Deep Roots

Native Little bluestem

•  ~ 1/6 global CO2 from land conversion •  Native, healthy systems store more carbon

than cropland, degraded fields & coasts

From Conservation “Adaptation” to Mitigation?

Native American Prairie