CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT ON BIODIVERSITY

TOPIC: Environment

Context- Bengal tiger, hoolock gibbon, snow leopard to face climate change wrath: New IPCC report

Concept-

The snow leopard, which is the apex predator in the mountain ranges of central and south Asia, is found across 12 countries in Asia.
- Of these, its suitable habitat area will increase in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Mongolia.
- However, habitat loss is expected on the south slope of the Himalaya and the south-eastern Tibetan Plateau.
- Climate change will cause the extinction of the Hoolock gibbon in Bangladesh by 2070.
Future climate change would also reduce suitable habitat of protected plants including two threatened medicinal plants — Fritillaria cirrhosa (yellow Himalayan fritillary) and Lilium nepalense (the lily of Nepal) — in Nepal and a valuable threatened tree species from the mahogany family — Dysoxylum binectariferum — in Bangladesh.
Climate change will promote the invasion of six mostly serious invasive plant species in Nepal. These are:
- Ageratum houstonianum (Floss flower)
- Chromolaena odorata (Bitter bush)
- Hyptis suaveolens (Pignut)
- Lantana camara (Raimuniya in Hindi)
- Mikania micrantha (Bitter vine)
- Parthenium hysterophorus (Carrot grass)
Climate change would also inhibit the invasion of two invasive plants — Chromolaena odorata (Bitter bush) and Tridax procumbens (Tridax daisy) — in India.