It’s gettin ’ hot in here! (Consequences of climate change)

1. It’s gettin’ hot in here!(Consequences of climate change) Jake and Michael

2. Brief background on climate change • Increasing levels of CO2 and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have a variety of environmental effects. • Increasing temperature • Ocean acidification • Ice melts • Extreme weather events

3. What effects might these changes have on plant and animal life?

4. What effects might these changes have on plant and animal life? • Direct physical/physiological effects • Habitat loss • Range shifts • New hybrids • Changes in species interactions (predator/prey, parasite/host, competitors) • Life cycle changes

5. Physical/physiological effects • Warmer temperatures can have direct impacts on organisms health (over-heating) • Ocean acidification can have a direct negative impact on marine life • Temperature dependent sex determination

6. Example: Coral • Rising ocean temperature results in coral reef bleaching, where corals expel the mutualistic colorful algae that live within them • Ocean acidification makes it more difficult for corals to build their calcium based skeletons, resulting in slower growth

7. Example: Turtles/Tortoises • Many species have temperature dependent sex determination • Warmer temperatures result in a higher ratio of female offspring • Unseasonably warm temperatures in FL cause loggerhead turtles to produce ~90% females % Male temp

8. Habitat loss • As the climate changes habitat may change in such a way that makes it unusable for certain species.

9. Example: Polar bears • Sea ice is shrinking and moving farther apart resulting in less hunting ground and making hunting more dangerous • Warming temperatures cause ice to freeze later in fall and melt earlier in spring resulting in a narrower hunting period

10. Example: Mangroves • Mangrove ecosystems provide crucial breeding and nursery areas for many different species of fish and other wildlife • Rising sea level and changing salinity destroy mangrove ecosystems

11. Range shifts • Plants and animals shift or expand their ranges to remain in suitable habitat • Optimal temperature • Following food sources • Shifts can occur both in latitude or elevation

12. Example: Pika • Small mammal adapted to cold habitats in mountainous areas • Warming temperatures forcing the pika to higher and higher elevations where it is cooler

13. New hybrids • As populations move into new habitats they can come in contact and hybridize with different species. I love you!

14. Example: Arctic mammals • Melting arctic ice removes barrier that previously separated species. Without the barrier new hybrids are forming. • Polar bear + Grizzly bear = Grolar bear • Narwhal + Beluga • Right whale + Bowhead whale

15. Species interactions • Shifting ranges can expose populations to new predators, parasites, or competitors. • Changing conditions may alter already existing interactions • eg. warmer temp can speed up parasite life cycle leading to faster growth and higher rates of transmission

16. Example: Frogs and fungi • Chytrid fungus damages frog populations • Global warming increases cloud cover • Causes daytime cooling and night time warming • Microclimate shifts to growth optimum for chytrid • Allows expansion into previously unaffected altitudes

17. Example: Arctic fox and red fox • Warmer temp allows red fox to expand northward into arctic fox range • Red fox can act as both a new competitor and as a predator of arctic foxes

18. Life cycle changes • Warming temperatures can alter the timing of a species’ life cycle which can interfere with a variety of biotic and abiotic interactions

19. Example: Hibernating Animals • Warming winter temperatures is causing some animals such as marmots, chipmunks, and brown bears to reduce or completely skip hibernation • Can lead to winter starvation if food is not abundant enough

20. The Extreme Polar Plunge • Ice platforms are shrinking and moving farther apart • Polar bears have to swim farther and farther to locate suitable hunting locations • Increasing amount of open water between shore and sea ice results in rougher waves making swimming more dangerous

21. Blinding Nemo! • Ocean acidification interferes with clownfish senses making it harder for juveniles to find anemones • Without anemone mutualism clownfish are very vulnerable to predators

22. What’s wrong with Bullwinkle? • Warmer temps have allowed deer to move into moose territory • Deer bring parasites that harm moose • Infected moose are weakened and lethargic Can you go away? You’re making me sick.