Climate Change Threatens to 58% of protected species in Europe

By 2080, 58% of terrestrial vertebrate species and flora in Europe could lose the climatic conditions to survive in protected areas in each country. So says a study by the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) published "Ecology Letters.

The authors, led by Miguel Araújo, analyzed the effectiveness of conservation policies in 75% of terrestrial vertebrates and 10% of the plants on the continent. In their analysis also shows that these changes affect more than half of the species included within the network of European conservation 'Nature 2000', up to 63% of them.

The Climate Change

The mountainous areas, valleys and enclosed water lines play a fundamental role in the adaptation of biodiversity to climate change. By providing temperature and humidity gradients accented, says the study, facilitate the adaptation of species through a short-distance movements are more feasible and less risky than inland migration.

Natura 2000 covers 27,661 areas, resulting in a total of 117 million hectares constitute 17% of the surface of the 27 countries comprising the European Union. The network's objective is to ensure the survival of biodiversity in the long term and the climate change. In addition, each country appoints its own protected areas. This makes Europe the region with the largest conservation network in the world.

Ecology and climate change

Researchers have used several climate models to study the potential distribution of 1,883 species, 585 terrestrial vertebrates and plants in Europe 1298.

Miguel Araujo explains, the National Museum of Natural Sciences in Madrid, "we noted that protected areas conserve species better against the effects of climate change, but the Natura 2000 network is more vulnerable and could lose more species."

Conservation areas designated by each country are more effective because they are usually located in mountainous areas, which act as 'climate refugees'. Natura 2000, the species are more vulnerable because they live in plains, where the effects are intensified by climate. in the ecology Research confirms that suffer the greatest impacts of southern Europe, while high mountain areas in Europe will be less affected.