Species on the Move International Conference 2016
Species on the Move International Conference 2016

AusSMC NEWS BRIEFING: Animals adrift, fish flustered and plants uprooted: how we're upending the natural world

Embargoed until: Publicly released:
NEWS BRIEFING: Wed 10th Feb 2016 at 13:15 AEDT ONLINE

As our planet warms, around half of the world's plants and animals have been forced to up sticks and head towards the poles, according to new studies of global species distributions. And it's not just animals and plants on land - marine species have been forced to move too, disrupting distribution patterns thought to have existed for millions of years. Even more worryingly, species aren't just moving - their behaviour is changing too; around two thirds have already altered their breeding and flowering seasons, changes that are in step with climate change. Some iconic Aussie species have already been affected, including koalas and platypuses, which have seen declining numbers as a result of extreme heat. Join us for this online briefing from the Species on the Move International Conference being held in Hobart this week, when top international experts, and Australia's Professor Gretta Pecl, will discuss their latest research.

Journal/conference: Species on the Move International Conference 2016

Organisation/s: Australian Science Media Centre, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS)

Media release

From: Australian Science Media Centre

The briefing will discuss the following issues:

  • How the world's flora and fauna are moving in response to climate change
  • How breeding behaviour is changing
  • The situation in our oceans
  • Effects on Australia's flora and fauna
  • How do we monitor species distributions? How accurate is the data?
  • What are the future prospects for the planet's plants, animals and fungi?

Speakers:

  • Professor Camille Parmesan is National Marine Aquarium Chair in Public Understanding of Oceans and Human Health, Plymouth University, UK and Professor of Integrative Biology at the University of Texas at Austin, USA
  • Professor Mike Burrows is from the Scottish Association for Marine Studies, UK
  • Associate Professor Gretta Pecl is an ARC Future Fellow and Deputy Director of Research at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies

Date: Wed 10 Feb 2016
Start Time: 12:45pm AEDT
Duration: Approx 45 min
Venue: Online

IMAS media release:

Conservation planning essential as nature moves with climate change

A range of international climate assessments have confirmed that global biodiversity is changing in response to shifts in regional climate – and environmental managers must carefully evaluate options critical to the survival of some species.

Plymouth University’s Professor Camille Parmesan used her keynote speech at the inaugural international conference Species on the Move, which opened in Hobart today, to highlight impacts that are already being observed in terrestrial, marine and freshwater systems.

“The global imprint of warming on life is evident in hundreds of scientific studies,” Professor Parmesan said.

“While about half of all studied species have changed their distributions in response to recent climate change, we are starting to see negative impacts for the most vulnerable species.”

In every system, diverse wild species have responded to increases in annual and seasonal temperatures, changes in patterns and amounts of rainfall and snow, and increases in frequencies of extreme heat events in the ocean and on land.

Professor Parmesan said the most impacted species to date are those occurring solely in the most sensitive systems or which have already been highly impacted by other anthropogenic stressors such as habitat loss or pollution.

“Recovering these vulnerable species under a changing climate may not always be possible.

“But where there is potential for recovery, robust conservation planning requires that we not only acknowledge and address threats and habitat needs of the past, but also anticipate and prepare for changing threats and needs, looking forward into future decades.”

Providing an overview of responses to climate change, Professor Parmesan said:

  • About half of studied species have shifted their geographical ranges poleward  (50-1,600km) and/or upward (up to 400m in elevation);
  • About 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; and
  • New research documents complex responses and indicates that prior studies have underestimated the proportion of species impacted by climate change.

Over the next three days the 250 delegates to the conference from 40 countries will hear the results of Australian studies where documented impacts include climate-change driven range extensions in at least 70 fish species and other animals, such as octopus and sea snails, and a southward colonisation of sea urchins in eastern Tasmania.

Changes have also been detected in the timing of life-cycle events such as migration and breeding in birds and population declines as a result of heat stress and droughts in koalas, wetland birds and platypus.

Some species have already shifted their geographical ranges and smaller average body sizes have been noted in some bird species.

Mass die-off events have been recorded in flying foxes and the endangered Carnaby’s cockatoo during days of extreme heat.

In reptiles, a change in the offspring sex ratio has also been related to increasing temperatures.

The conference is being hosted by the University of Tasmania and the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies.

More information: http://www.speciesonthemove.com/

Attachments:

Note: Not all attachments are visible to the general public

  • Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS)
    Species-on-the-Move-conference-Professor-Parmesan.pdf, 323.0 KB
    Conservation planning essential as nature moves with climate change
  • Australian Science Media Centre
    Web page
    Link to briefing recording
  • Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS)
    Species-on-the-Move-conf-Williams-MR.pdf, 276.7 KB
    Climate change a reality for birds of Australia’s wet tropics

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