Innovation Anthology #625:
Some of Alberta’s plants and amphibians will not fare well if climate change occurs at the extreme range.
That’s the conclusion of a new report by the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute.
Funded by the Climate Change and Emissions Management Corporation, this latest report is the second in a series on biodiversity and adaption.
Co-author Dr. Christopher Shank used a species vulnerability index when comparing different climate change scenarios.
DR. CHRISTOPHER SHANK: We also took and looked at 5 specific climate change models which basically covered the gamut from warm-dry to to cold-wet. And we saw how much effect that would have on that vulnerability index. And really what we found was for 4 of those 5 models, it really had no difference whatsoever. So the climate change vulnerability index is kind of robust to the differences that we see in the different climate models. The one model which is much warmer and much drier really did seem to have an effect. And some species had a very different vulnerability index using that particular model.
According to Dr. Shank, as wetlands disappear under drier conditions, so will moisture loving plants and amphibians.
Thanks today to the Climate Change and Emissions Management Corporation
FOR INNOVATION ANTHOLOGY
I’M CHERYL CROUCHER
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Climate Change and Emissions Management Corporation
Program Date: 2014-07-08