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Biodiversity

Climate change and the ecologist

Nature volume 448, pages 550–552 (2007)Cite this article

The evidence for rapid climate change now seems overwhelming. Global temperatures are predicted to rise by up to 4 °C by 2100, with associated alterations in precipitation patterns. Assessing the consequences for biodiversity, and how they might be mitigated, is a Grand Challenge in ecology.

What are the effects of climate change?

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Figure 1: The main factors, or 'drivers', affecting biodiversity.
Figure 2: The probabilistic approach to forecasting biodiversity.
Figure 3: The complex web of factors affecting human health and well-being, biodiversity and ecosystems.

Further Reading

  1. Díaz, S., Fargione, J., Chapin, F. S. III & Tilman, D. PLoS Biol. 4(8), e277. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0040277 (2006).

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  2. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2007).

  3. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Ecosystems and Human Well-Being: A Framework for Assessment (Island, Washington DC, 2003)

  4. Parmesan, C. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Evol. Syst. 37, 637–669 (2006).

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  5. Sala, O. E. et al. in Ecosystems and Human Well-Being: Scenarios (eds Carpenter, S. R., Pingali, P. L., Bennett, E. M. & Zurek, M.) 375–408 (Island, Washington DC, 2005).

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  6. Schröter, D. et al. Science 310, 1333–1337 (2005).

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  7. Thuiller, W., Lavorel, S., Araújo, M. B., Sykes, M. T. & Prentice, I. C. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 102, 8245–8250 (2005).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wilfried Thuiller is at the Laboratoire d'Ecologie Alpine, UMR-CNRS 5553, Université J. Fourier, BP 53, 38041 Grenoble Cedex 9, France. wilfried.thuiller@ujf-grenoble.fr,

    Wilfried Thuiller

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  1. Wilfried Thuiller
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Thuiller, W. Climate change and the ecologist. Nature 448, 550–552 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/448550a

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