How climate change is displacing animals

Subject : Environment

Section: Climate Change

Context:

A new analysis suggests that extreme weather linked to climate change might be much harder on native species than on non-native ones.

Details:

As the planet warms, extreme weather events– heat waves, cold snaps, droughts and floods- are becoming more common and destructive.
These sudden, violent changes in conditions could be helping to fundamentally reshape ecosystems.

Findings of the report:

Non-native species are more adaptable to extreme weather than native species.
While populations of non-native species may take a hit, the impact on native species species is far-reaching, who will lose geographic distribution and struggle to recover.
The native terrestrial animals tended to be hit hard by heat waves, cold spells and droughts, while native freshwater animals were susceptible to most events apart from cold spells.
Non-native terrestrial animals were only affected by heat waves, while non-native freshwater animals tended to suffer only from storms.Non-native marine animals were largely indifferent to most disturbances.

Why do non-native animals fare better?

They are able to rapidly establish populations in alien environments, have more adaptable behaviour and physiology, and have a higher tolerance for disturbances.
They are able to take advantage when extreme weather wipes out a chunk of native animals.

Need to protect native species:

According to a report prepared by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services for the United Nations, thousands of invasive species introduced to new ecosystems around the world are causing more than $423 billion in estimated losses to the global economy every year by harming nature, damaging food systems and threatening human health.
Monitoring areas recently hit by extreme weather events and focusing management efforts can help in the quick recovery of native species.
Promoting recovery, avoiding disappearance or helping native species that are known to be vulnerable to extreme events could give native species enough time to evolve and adapt to novel weather patterns driven by climate change.

Source of this article: Indian Express