Climate Change Impacts on Biodiversity—The Setting of a Lingering Global Crisis

• Main Authors: Katharina Stein, Fitria Rinawati, André Lindner
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2013-03-01
• Series: Diversity
• Subjects: climate change; biodiversity; ecosystem functioning; ecosystem services; tipping point; tropical forests
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/5/1/114

Climate change has created potential major threats to global biodiversity. The multiple components of climate change are projected to affect all pillars of biodiversity, from genes over species to biome level. Of particular concerns are “tipping points” where the exceedance of ecosystem thresholds will possibly lead to irreversible shifts of ecosystems and their functioning. As biodiversity underlies all goods and services provided by ecosystems that are crucial for human survival and wellbeing, this paper presents potential effects of climate change on biodiversity, its plausible impacts on human society as well as the setting in addressing a global crisis. Species affected by climate change may respond in three ways: change, move or die. Local species extinctions or a rapidly affected ecosystem as a whole respectively might move toward its particular “tipping point”, thereby probably depriving its services to human society and ending up in a global crisis. Urgent and appropriate actions within various scenarios of climate change impacts on biodiversity, especially in tropical regions, are needed to be considered. Foremost a multisectoral approach on biodiversity issues with broader policies, stringent strategies and programs at international, national and local levels is essential to meet the challenges of climate change impacts on biodiversity.