Climate change – it’s not just about melting glaciers and rising water levels. Three studies last week linked climate change and increased carbon dioxide levels to life on land, where yaks, bugs, plants and leaves have something to tell us about the future.
Leaf life cycles
A research team from the University of Otago in New Zealand analyzed leaf patterns over a 32-year span ending in 2012.
The study examined leaf phenology -- the seasonal timing of leaf emergence, growth and death -- and how carbon dioxide was altering the cycle.
Environmental factors, including carbon dioxide levels, have altered the timing of 95 per cent of leaf patterns across the world, the researchers say. There have been “severe” changes in large parts of Africa, South America and Australia.
While changing leaf patterns may seem like a minor problem, Professor Steven Higgins, with the University of Otago, say the trickle-down effect could be devastating.
“For example, several bird species have already experienced population losses due to the effect of seasons moving out of sync with their lifecycles, and similar changes have been reported for insect pollinators and even large mammals such as deer,” he said in a statement.
Moving up the evolutionary chain, insects are taking advantage of higher carbon dioxide levels and affecting their surroundings.
Insects and trees
While trees are able to take in carbon dioxide from the air and turn it in to oxygen, their ability to do so is being hampered by hungry insects. And their hunger is being fueled by increased CO2 levels.
A new study published by the University of Wisconsin-Madison discovered the more carbon dioxide in the air, the hungrier insects become.
The study is based on experiments held in the Aspen Free-Air Carbon Dioxide and Ozone Enrichment, once one of the largest man made ecosystems in the world.
The team studied the leaves and scraps to determine what insects were attracted to.
They found that trees grown in areas exposed to more carbon dioxide would see 88 per cent more damage done by insects.
"This is the first time, at this scale, that insects have been shown to compromise the ability of forests to take up carbon dioxide," lead author Richard Lindroth said in a statement.
Carbon dioxide has been shown to make plants grow faster, but it then causes insects to wreak more damage.
While the first two studies focused on the world of plants and bugs, the third examines large mammals being affected.
Yaks looking for new homes
Due to warming temperatures, female yaks in Tibet are being forced to move into steeper terrain to find better food to raise their young, says the study by the Wildlife Conservation Society.
Conservation scientist Joel Berger, who led the study, says the findings can help researchers plan for climate conservation policies moving forward.
“What happens in the Keke Xili National Nature Reserve can provide valuable lessons as conservation planners prepare for similar climate change impact in other parts of the world,” he said.
