BIODIVERSITY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

A PERSPECTIVE

Dr. Samuel N. Anay,RA,MSAg.DPA

Sr. Agriculturist
Agusan, Caraga, Philippines
Introduction
 Biodiversity
 Biodiversity refers to the variety of life, including the
number of species, life forms, genetic types, and habitats
and biomes (which are characteristic groupings of plant and
animal species found in a particular climate).
 Biodiversity and ecosystems produce a rich array of
benefits that people depend on, including fisheries, drinking
water, fertile soils for growing crops, climate regulation,
inspiration, and aesthetic and cultural values.
 These benefits are called “ecosystem services” – some of which,
like food, are more easily quantified than others, such as climate
regulation or cultural values. Changes in many such services are
often not obvious to those who depend on them.
 Biodiversity….
 It is the variety of life on Earth, in all its forms and
all its interactions. If that sounds bewilderingly
broad, that’s because it is.
 Biodiversity is the most complex feature of our
planet and it is the most vital. “Without biodiversity,
there is no future for humanity,” says Prof David
Macdonald, at Oxford University.
 The air you breathe, the water you drink and the food you
eat all rely on biodiversity, but right now it is in crisis –
because of us. What does this mean for our future and
can we stop it? Damian Carrington
 For many people living in towns and cities, wildlife
is often something you watch on television. But the
reality is that the air you breathe, the water you
drink and the food you eat all ultimately rely on
biodiversity. Some examples are obvious: without
plants there would be no oxygen and without bees
to pollinate there would be no fruit or nuts.
 Others are less obvious – coral reefs and mangrove
swamps provide invaluable protection from cyclones
and tsunamis for those living on coasts, while trees
can absorb air pollution in urban areas.
 Climate change impacts on biodiversity are already
being observed in alteration of the timing of critical
biological events such as bud burst, and substantial
range shifts of many species. In the longer term,
there is an increased risk of species extinction. These
changes have social, cultural, and economic effects.
 Climate Change
 Responses
 Globally
 Locally
Key elements affected by CC
 Water
 Climate change impacts on ecosystems reduce their ability to
improve water quality and regulate water flows.
 Extreme Events
 Climate change, combined with other stressors, is overwhelming
the capacity of ecosystems to buffer the impacts from extreme
events like fires, floods, and storms.
 Plants and Animals
 Landscapes and seascapes are changing rapidly, and species,
including many iconic species, may disappear from regions where
they have been prevalent or become extinct, altering some
regions so much that their mix of plant and animal life will
become almost unrecognizable.
 Seasonal Patterns
 Timing of critical biological events, such as bud burst,
emergence from hot/cold months, and the start of
migrations, has shifted, leading to important impacts on
species and habitats.
 Forests
 Forests occur within urban areas, at the interface between
urban and rural areas (wildland-urban interface), and in
rural areas. Urban forests contribute to clean air, cooling
buildings, aesthetics, and recreation in parks.
 Development in the wildland-urban interface is increasing
because of the appeal of owning homes near or in the
woods. In rural areas, market factors drive land uses among
commercial forestry and land uses such as agriculture.
Across this spectrum, forests provide recreational
opportunities, cultural resources, and social values such as
aesthetics.
 Forests provide opportunities to reduce future
climate change by capturing and storing carbon, as
well as by providing resources for bioenergy
production (the use of forest-derived plant-based
materials for energy production).
 Construction near forests and wildlands is growing.
Wildfire approaches a housing development or the
other way.
 The combination of residential location choices with wildfire
occurrence dramatically illustrates how the interactions between land
use and climate processes can affect climate change impacts and
vulnerabilities. Low-density (suburban and exurban) housing patterns
have expanded, and are projected to continue to expand.

 One result is a rise in the amount of construction in forests and other

wildlands, that in turn has increased the exposure of houses, other
structures, and people to damages from wildfires. Mount Apo
wildfire took number of days to finally control. The losses are one
example of how changing development patterns can interact with a
changing climate to create dramatic new risks.
 Ecosystems
 Climate change affects the living world, including
people, through changes in ecosystems, biodiversity,
and ecosystem services. Ecosystems entail all the living
things in a particular area as well as the non-living
things with which they interact, such as air, soil, water,
and sunlight.
 Increasing Forest Disturbances
 Climate change is increasing the vulnerability of many
forests to ecosystem changes and tree mortality through fire,
insect infestations, drought, and disease outbreaks.
 Changing Carbon Uptake
 Most forests and associated wood products currently absorb
and store the equivalent of about 16% of all carbon
dioxide (CO2) emitted by fossil fuel burning in the Western
area even in Asia each year. Climate change, combined
with current societal trends in land use and forest
management, is projected to reduce this rate of forest CO2
uptake.
Responses to all these…..
 Bioenergy Potential
 Bioenergy could emerge as a new market for wood
and could aid in the restoration of forests killed by
drought, insects, and fire.
 Influences on Management Choices
 Forest management responses to climate change will be
influenced by the changing nature of private forestland
ownership, globalization of forestry markets, emerging
markets for bioenergy.
 Effects on Communities and Ecosystems
 Choices about land-use and land-cover patterns have
affected and will continue to affect how vulnerable or
resilient human communities and ecosystems are to the
effects of climate change.
 Effects on Climate Processes
 Land-use and land-cover changes affect local, regional, and
global climate processes.
 Adaptation
 Whole system management is often more effective than
focusing on one species at a time, and can help reduce the
harm to wildlife, natural assets, and human well-being that
climate disruption might cause.
 Adapting to Climate Change
 Individuals,businesses, non-profits, and governments
have the capacity to make land-use decisions to adapt
to the effects of climate change.
 Reducing Greenhouse Gas Levels
 Choices about land use and land management may
provide a means of reducing atmospheric greenhouse
gas levels.
 Human-Induced Changes
 Human activities have increased atmospheric carbon dioxide by
about 40% over pre-industrial levels and more than doubled the
amount of nitrogen available to ecosystems. Similar trends have
been observed for phosphorus and other elements, and these
changes have major consequences for biogeochemical cycles and
climate change.
 Impacts and Options
 Altered biogeochemical cycles together with climate change
increase the vulnerability of biodiversity, food security, human
health, and water quality to changing climate. However, natural
and managed shifts in major biogeochemical cycles can help limit
rates of climate change.
Climate Change?
~ mean annual surface temperature 
~ atmospheric concentration of GHGs 
> CO2; methane; CFCs; N2O
~ concentration of GHGs  (1750- )
[CO2: 280 ppm/ 388 ppm/ 450 ppm]
> sea level rise: 01.-0.2 m  (20th C)
> snow cover: 10%  (1960s- )
> El Nino episodes  (1970s- )
> droughts  (Africa, Asia)
What is the nature of the climate change problem?
~ discernible human influence
~ global: needs international negotiation (debates)
~ CC: not only a global issue, also a local issue
The global politics of climate change
~ UNFCCC (1992)
> objective: stabilize GHG concentrations
> debate: industrialized countries commitments
* US: opposed binding targets & timetables
~ The Kyoto Protocol (1997)
> objective: reduce GHG emissions
> rules for implementation (2001)
* post-Kyoto negotiations: highly contentious
Cities/Provinces: significant role to address climate change

~ cities: high energy consumption/ waste production

> 50% world population; 80% global CO2 emissions
~ Local Agenda 21: global rhetoric  local practice
> influence day-to-day lives; more effective than state
~ small-scale demonstration projects
> illustrate costs & benefits of controlling GHGs
~ considerable experience in energy, transport, planning
> innovative measures to reduce impact on climate
~ Plant Trees, reuse, recycle
 References
 Allen, C. D. et al., 2010: A global overview of drought and heat-induced tree
mortality reveals emerging climate change risks for forests. Forest Ecology and
Management, 259, 660-684, doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2009.09.001. URL | Detail ↩
 Anderegg, W. R. L., J. M. Kane, and L. D. L. Anderegg, 2012: Consequences of
widespread tree mortality triggered by drought and temperature stress. Nature
Climate Change, 3, 30-36, doi:10.1038/nclimate1635. | Detail ↩
 Bartomeus, I., J. S. Ascher, D. Wagner, B. N. Danforth, S. Colla, S. Kornbluth, and R.
Winfree, 2011: Climate-associated phenological advances in bee pollinators and
bee-pollinated plants. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108,
20645-20649, doi:10.1073/pnas.1115559108. URL | Detail ↩
 Beaugrand, G., M. Edwards, and L. Legendre, 2010: Marine biodiversity, ecosystem
functioning, and carbon cycles. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
107, 10120-10124, doi:10.1073/pnas.0913855107. | Detail ↩
Thank
you and
More
power