Existing comment:
S. Joseph Wright (Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute)
Various slides:
Extinctions caused by chytridiomycosis:
- Up to 165 species have been driven to extinction since 1980.
- Climate change has been implicated in the Andes where most extinctions have occurred (Pounds et al 2006 Nature)
- Chytridiomycosis continues to spread to new species & regions.
Take home messages:
(1) Tropical species are particularly sensitive to temperature change.
(2) Dispersal distances to cool refugees will be greatest in the tropics.
(3) Forests only exist where 1960s temperatures averaged < 28 degrees Centigrade.
(4) Average temperatures will exceed 28 degrees Centigrade for 75% of all tropical forests when temperatures are 3 degrees Centigrade warmer.
(5) Climate change is already implicated in extinctions in tropical mountains
(6) Global warming will have its greatest impact on biodiversity in the tropics even though greater warming in projected for higher latitudes. |