A national-scale assessment of climate change impacts on species: assessing the balance of risks and opportunities for multiple taxa

James W. Pearce-Higgins; Colin Michael Beale; Tom Oliver; Tom August; Matthew John Carroll; Dario Massimino; Nancy Ockendon; Joanne Savage; Christopher John Wheatley; Malcolm  Ausden; Richard B. Bradbury; Simon Duffield; Nicholas Macgregor; Colin John McClean; Mike D Morecroft; Chris Thomas; Olly Watts; Björn Beckmann; Richard Fox; Helen E Roy; Peter Sutton; Kevin Walker; Humphrey Q. P. Crick

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2017.06.035

A national-scale assessment of climate change impacts on species: assessing the balance of risks and opportunities for multiple taxa

James W. Pearce-Higgins, Colin Michael Beale, Tom Oliver, Tom August, Matthew John Carroll, Dario Massimino, Nancy Ockendon, Joanne Savage, Christopher John Wheatley, Malcolm Ausden, Richard B. Bradbury, Simon Duffield, Nicholas Macgregor, Colin John McClean, Mike D Morecroft, Chris Thomas, Olly Watts, Björn Beckmann, Richard Fox, Helen E RoyPeter Sutton, Kevin Walker, Humphrey Q. P. Crick

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

It is important for conservationists to be able to assess the risks that climate change poses to species, in order to inform decision making. Using standardised and repeatable methods, we present a national-scale assessment of the risks of range loss and opportunities for range expansion that climate change could pose for over 3000 plants and animals. Species were selected by their occurrence in England, the primary focus of the study, but climate change impacts were assessed across Great Britain, widening their geographical relevance. A basic risk assessment that compared projected future changes in potential range with recently observed changes classified 21% of species as being at high risk and 6% at medium risk of range loss under a B1 climate change scenario. A greater number of species were classified as having a medium (16%) or high (38%) opportunity to potentially expand their distribution. A more comprehensive assessment, incorporating additional ecological information, including potentially confounding and exacerbating factors (e.g. dispersal, habitat availability and other constraints), was applied to 402 species, of which 35% were at risk of range loss and 42% may expand their range extent. This study covers a temperate region with a significant proportion of species at their poleward range limit; the balance of risks and opportunities from climate change may be different elsewhere. The outcome of both risk assessments varied between taxonomic groups, with bryophytes and vascular plants containing the greatest proportion of species at risk from climate change. Upland habitats contained more species at risk than other habitats. Whilst the overall pattern was clear, confidence was generally low for individual assessments, with the exception of well-studied taxa such as birds. In response to climate change, nature conservation needs to plan for changing species distributions and an uncertain future.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	124-134
Number of pages	11
Journal	Biological Conservation
Volume	213
Issue number	A
Early online date	14 Jul 2017
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2017.06.035
Publication status	Published - 1 Sept 2017

Bibliographical note

Keywords

Adaptation
Climate change
Climate envelope
Great Britain
Risk assessment
Vulnerability

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10.1016/j.biocon.2017.06.035

BIOC_2017_227_Revision 1_V0
© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy.
Accepted author manuscript, 5.24 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Colin John McClean
- colin.mccleanyork.acuk
- Environment and Geography - Senior Lecturer
Person: Academic

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Pearce-Higgins, J. W., Beale, C. M., Oliver, T., August, T., Carroll, M. J., Massimino, D., Ockendon, N., Savage, J., Wheatley, C. J., Ausden, M., Bradbury, R. B., Duffield, S., Macgregor, N., McClean, C. J., Morecroft, M. D., Thomas, C., Watts, O., Beckmann, B., Fox, R., ... Crick, H. Q. P. (2017). A national-scale assessment of climate change impacts on species: assessing the balance of risks and opportunities for multiple taxa. Biological Conservation, 213(A), 124-134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2017.06.035

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abstract = "It is important for conservationists to be able to assess the risks that climate change poses to species, in order to inform decision making. Using standardised and repeatable methods, we present a national-scale assessment of the risks of range loss and opportunities for range expansion that climate change could pose for over 3000 plants and animals. Species were selected by their occurrence in England, the primary focus of the study, but climate change impacts were assessed across Great Britain, widening their geographical relevance. A basic risk assessment that compared projected future changes in potential range with recently observed changes classified 21% of species as being at high risk and 6% at medium risk of range loss under a B1 climate change scenario. A greater number of species were classified as having a medium (16%) or high (38%) opportunity to potentially expand their distribution. A more comprehensive assessment, incorporating additional ecological information, including potentially confounding and exacerbating factors (e.g. dispersal, habitat availability and other constraints), was applied to 402 species, of which 35% were at risk of range loss and 42% may expand their range extent. This study covers a temperate region with a significant proportion of species at their poleward range limit; the balance of risks and opportunities from climate change may be different elsewhere. The outcome of both risk assessments varied between taxonomic groups, with bryophytes and vascular plants containing the greatest proportion of species at risk from climate change. Upland habitats contained more species at risk than other habitats. Whilst the overall pattern was clear, confidence was generally low for individual assessments, with the exception of well-studied taxa such as birds. In response to climate change, nature conservation needs to plan for changing species distributions and an uncertain future.",

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Pearce-Higgins, JW, Beale, CM, Oliver, T, August, T, Carroll, MJ, Massimino, D, Ockendon, N, Savage, J, Wheatley, CJ, Ausden, M, Bradbury, RB, Duffield, S, Macgregor, N, McClean, CJ, Morecroft, MD, Thomas, C, Watts, O, Beckmann, B, Fox, R, Roy, HE, Sutton, P, Walker, K & Crick, HQP 2017, 'A national-scale assessment of climate change impacts on species: assessing the balance of risks and opportunities for multiple taxa', Biological Conservation, vol. 213, no. A, pp. 124-134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2017.06.035

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AU - Wheatley, Christopher John

AU - Ausden, Malcolm

AU - Bradbury, Richard B.

AU - Duffield, Simon

AU - Macgregor, Nicholas

AU - McClean, Colin John

AU - Morecroft, Mike D

AU - Thomas, Chris

AU - Watts, Olly

AU - Beckmann, Björn

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N2 - It is important for conservationists to be able to assess the risks that climate change poses to species, in order to inform decision making. Using standardised and repeatable methods, we present a national-scale assessment of the risks of range loss and opportunities for range expansion that climate change could pose for over 3000 plants and animals. Species were selected by their occurrence in England, the primary focus of the study, but climate change impacts were assessed across Great Britain, widening their geographical relevance. A basic risk assessment that compared projected future changes in potential range with recently observed changes classified 21% of species as being at high risk and 6% at medium risk of range loss under a B1 climate change scenario. A greater number of species were classified as having a medium (16%) or high (38%) opportunity to potentially expand their distribution. A more comprehensive assessment, incorporating additional ecological information, including potentially confounding and exacerbating factors (e.g. dispersal, habitat availability and other constraints), was applied to 402 species, of which 35% were at risk of range loss and 42% may expand their range extent. This study covers a temperate region with a significant proportion of species at their poleward range limit; the balance of risks and opportunities from climate change may be different elsewhere. The outcome of both risk assessments varied between taxonomic groups, with bryophytes and vascular plants containing the greatest proportion of species at risk from climate change. Upland habitats contained more species at risk than other habitats. Whilst the overall pattern was clear, confidence was generally low for individual assessments, with the exception of well-studied taxa such as birds. In response to climate change, nature conservation needs to plan for changing species distributions and an uncertain future.

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KW - Adaptation

KW - Climate change

KW - Climate envelope

KW - Great Britain

KW - Risk assessment

KW - Vulnerability

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DO - 10.1016/j.biocon.2017.06.035

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JO - Biological Conservation

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IS - A

ER -

A national-scale assessment of climate change impacts on species: assessing the balance of risks and opportunities for multiple taxa

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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Colin John McClean

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