1 / 21

Adaptation for High Biodiversity Under Climate Change

Adaptation for High Biodiversity Under Climate Change. Biodiversity South West Partnership Taunton 12 March 2008. John Hopkins, Natural England. Observed biodiversity change. Oak first leafing dates. British thermophilous fauna. Silver spotted skipper. Sparks 2003. Hickling et al. 2006.

klaus
Download Presentation

Adaptation for High Biodiversity Under Climate Change

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Adaptation for High Biodiversity Under Climate Change Biodiversity South West Partnership Taunton 12 March 2008 John Hopkins, Natural England

  2. Observed biodiversity change Oak first leafing dates British thermophilous fauna Silver spotted skipper Sparks 2003 Hickling et al. 2006 Phenology Range change Butterfly Monitoring Scheme Peat decomposition Habitat preference change R.Meade Roy et al. 2001 Ecosystem process change Changing abundance

  3. UK BiodiversityPartnership Climate Change Guidelines : May 2007 http://www.ukbap.org.uk/Library/BRIG/CBCCGuidance.pdf

  4. Starting principles Actions we can start now – not requiring new policy or legislation No regrets – they would be good things to do even if we did not face climate change Set the direction of change not the final destination

  5. The Guidelines (page 10-11) 1 Conserve existing biodiversity 1a Conserve Protected Areas and other high quality habitats 1b Conserve range and ecological variability of habitats and species 2 Reduce sources of harm not linked to climate 3 Develop ecologically resilient and varied landscapes 3a Conserve and enhance local variation within sites and habitats 3b Make space for the natural development of rivers and coasts 4 Establish ecological networks through habitat protection, restoration and creation 5 Make sound decisions based on analysis 5a Thoroughly analyse causes of change 5b Respond to changing conservation priorities 6 Integrate adaptation and mitigation measures into conservation management, planning and practice

  6. Guideline 1a. Conserve Protected Areas and other high quality habitats. Change to protected area and other high quality wildlife habitat will occur. Managed properly these areas will continue to support higher diversity than the surrounding countryside. Significant and important uplands occur outside areas designated for biodiversity conservation. Mountain ringlet Sites of Special Scientific Interest Adonis blue butterfly

  7. Guideline 1b. Conserve range and ecological variability of habitats and species. Alan Barnes Martin Warren Leptidea sinapis Euphydryas aurinia

  8. Guideline 2. Reduce sources of harm not linked to climate

  9. Dispersal – General principles

  10. “Ecological climate” is fine grained and complex. Intellectual property rights IMAGE2000 of JRC, based on Landsat 7 ETM+ (c) ESA, distributed by Eurimage; ortho-correction EU15 (c) Metria, ortho-correction other countries GISAT; mosaic production GISAT

  11. Slope and sunlight

  12. Guideline 3a. Conserve and enhance local variation within sites and habitats Vulnerable Resilient Restoration option

  13. Temperature and altitude Bonan 2002

  14. Guideline 3a. Conserve and enhance local variation within sites and habitats

  15. Vegetation and microclimate Changing vegetation structure changes microclimate. Temp. Co Butser Hill, Hampshire Sward height cm. Summer Temperature under Hippocrepis comosa plants of varied height. J.A.Thomas 1990 Adonis blue butterfly

  16. 1934 1811 1960 1896 Habitat fragmentation : Dorset heaths. Moore 1962

  17. Guideline 4: Establish ecological networks through habitat protection, restoration and protection Marsh fritillary butterfly

  18. Habitat Networks 100 Largest habitat networks in England for heathland, woodland and mire, fen and bog. Grey areas indicate large urban settlements.

  19. Why take a landscape-scale approach? • It is not just about climate change. • Plant and animal communities are not closed systems – there is continuing species turn over – species conservation goals should be set at landscape and regional species pool level. • Many species “populations” are naturally dynamic e.g. open populations, meta-populations, shifting cloud, etc. • Many habitats, and their associated species, are naturally components of dynamic landscapes e.g. scrub, riverine habitats, many standing waters and wetlands, most coastal habitats. • Historic environment, geology and people’s enjoyment of the countryside are best understood at a landscape scal • If we are to solve the problems of the freshwater environment we will need to work at catchment scale.

  20. What does an integrated approach look like? SSSIs, SACs, SPAs, AONBs and National Parks in England Netherlands Ecological Network

  21. BRIG Climate Change Working Group • Hilary Alison, Woodland Trust • Clive Walmsely, Countryside Council for Wales • Martin Gaywood, Scottish Natural Heritage • Georgina Thurgate, Department of the Environment, Northern Ireland • John Hopkins, Natural England Acknowledgments Professor Chris Thomas, York University Professor Kevin Gaston, University of Sheffield Animal and Plant Science Dept. University of Sheffield Natural England Library Staff

More Related