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Vulnerability of ecosystems to climate change moderated by habitat intactness

Vulnerability of ecosystems to climate change moderated by habitat intactness
Vulnerability of ecosystems to climate change moderated by habitat intactness
The combined effects of climate change and habitat loss represent a major threat to species and ecosystems around the world. Here, we analyse the vulnerability of ecosystems to climate change based on current levels of habitat intactness and vulnerability to biome shifts, using multiple measures of habitat intactness at two spatial scales. We show that the global extent of refugia depends highly on the definition of habitat intactness and spatial scale of the analysis of intactness. Globally, 28% of terrestrial vegetated area can be considered refugia if all natural vegetated land cover is considered. This, however, drops to 17% if only areas that are at least 50% wilderness at a scale of 48 × 48 km are considered and to 10% if only areas that are at least 50% wilderness at a scale of 4.8 × 4.8 km are considered. Our results suggest that, in regions where relatively large, intact wilderness areas remain (e.g. Africa, Australia, boreal regions, South America), conservation of the remaining large-scale refugia is the priority. In human-dominated landscapes, (e.g. most of Europe, much of North America and Southeast Asia), focusing on finer scale refugia is a priority because large-scale wilderness refugia simply no longer exist. Action to conserve such refugia is particularly urgent since only 1 to 2% of global terrestrial vegetated area is classified as refugia and at least 50% covered by the global protected area network.
biodiversity, biome shifts, climate change, habitat fragmentation, habitat loss, land cover, national parks, protected areas, vegetation shifts
1354-1013
275-286
Eigenbrod, Felix
43efc6ae-b129-45a2-8a34-e489b5f05827
Gonzalez, Patrick
9d3eaeb1-834f-4dc0-b1e8-53f3d4882df9
Dash, Jadunandan
51468afb-3d56-4d3a-aace-736b63e9fac8
Steyl, Ilse
970116cd-b2a2-40fb-b351-4aea0f1e1ef8
Eigenbrod, Felix
43efc6ae-b129-45a2-8a34-e489b5f05827
Gonzalez, Patrick
9d3eaeb1-834f-4dc0-b1e8-53f3d4882df9
Dash, Jadunandan
51468afb-3d56-4d3a-aace-736b63e9fac8
Steyl, Ilse
970116cd-b2a2-40fb-b351-4aea0f1e1ef8

Eigenbrod, Felix, Gonzalez, Patrick, Dash, Jadunandan and Steyl, Ilse (2015) Vulnerability of ecosystems to climate change moderated by habitat intactness. Global Change Biology, 21 (1), 275-286. (doi:10.1111/gcb.12669).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The combined effects of climate change and habitat loss represent a major threat to species and ecosystems around the world. Here, we analyse the vulnerability of ecosystems to climate change based on current levels of habitat intactness and vulnerability to biome shifts, using multiple measures of habitat intactness at two spatial scales. We show that the global extent of refugia depends highly on the definition of habitat intactness and spatial scale of the analysis of intactness. Globally, 28% of terrestrial vegetated area can be considered refugia if all natural vegetated land cover is considered. This, however, drops to 17% if only areas that are at least 50% wilderness at a scale of 48 × 48 km are considered and to 10% if only areas that are at least 50% wilderness at a scale of 4.8 × 4.8 km are considered. Our results suggest that, in regions where relatively large, intact wilderness areas remain (e.g. Africa, Australia, boreal regions, South America), conservation of the remaining large-scale refugia is the priority. In human-dominated landscapes, (e.g. most of Europe, much of North America and Southeast Asia), focusing on finer scale refugia is a priority because large-scale wilderness refugia simply no longer exist. Action to conserve such refugia is particularly urgent since only 1 to 2% of global terrestrial vegetated area is classified as refugia and at least 50% covered by the global protected area network.

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Accepted/In Press date: 11 May 2014
e-pub ahead of print date: 24 July 2014
Published date: January 2015
Keywords: biodiversity, biome shifts, climate change, habitat fragmentation, habitat loss, land cover, national parks, protected areas, vegetation shifts
Organisations: Geography & Environment, Centre for Biological Sciences

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 367950
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/367950
ISSN: 1354-1013
PURE UUID: 077f9a47-dcb6-4cd1-8ea4-d4b568d89965
ORCID for Felix Eigenbrod: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-8982-824X
ORCID for Jadunandan Dash: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-5444-2109

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 20 Aug 2014 14:00
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:36

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Contributors

Author: Felix Eigenbrod ORCID iD
Author: Patrick Gonzalez
Author: Jadunandan Dash ORCID iD
Author: Ilse Steyl

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