Nature & Environment
Global Species Shake-Up Reveals More Biodiversity, But Changing Ecosystems
Catherine Griffin
First Posted: May 14, 2014 07:35 AM EDT
As our climate changes, species are disappearing-or that's what's commonly assumed. Now, though, it looks like that might not be the case. Scientists have re-examined data from 100 long-term monitoring studies done around the world and have found that the number of species hasn't changed much, or has actually increased over time.
Biodiversity is an important part of monitoring an ecosystem's health. Currently, the world is experiencing changes in climate that are impacting species, causing numbers to decline. That said, it seems as if species diversity isn't suffering. Scientists found that 59 of the 100 biological communities they studied showed an increase in species richness and 41 experienced a decrease. In addition, the rate of change was modest.
That's not to say that there weren't some unfortunate findings, though. Researches did find that which species were living in the places being studied were changing. In fact, about 80 percent of the communities showed substantial changes in species composition, averaging about 10 percent change per decade.
"Right under our noses, in the same place that a team might have looked a decade earlier, or even just a year earlier, a new assemblage of plants and animals may be taking hold," said Nick Gotelli in a news release.
The findings reveal that it's not all about the number of species, but also about the composition. For example, coral reefs could be replaced by communities dominated by algae. While there may be more species richness because of this, the fact that entire ecosystems are shifting means that conservation efforts will have to target the type of species rather than just the number.
"We move species around," said Gotelli in a news release. "There is a huge ant diversity in Florida, and about 30 percent of the ant species are non-natives. They have been accidentally introduced, mostly from the Old World tropics, and they are now a part of the local assemblage. So you have increased diversity in local communities because of the global homogenization."
The findings are published in the journal Science.
See Now:
NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone
©2024 ScienceWorldReport.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The window to the world of science news.
More on SCIENCEwr
First Posted: May 14, 2014 07:35 AM EDT
As our climate changes, species are disappearing-or that's what's commonly assumed. Now, though, it looks like that might not be the case. Scientists have re-examined data from 100 long-term monitoring studies done around the world and have found that the number of species hasn't changed much, or has actually increased over time.
Biodiversity is an important part of monitoring an ecosystem's health. Currently, the world is experiencing changes in climate that are impacting species, causing numbers to decline. That said, it seems as if species diversity isn't suffering. Scientists found that 59 of the 100 biological communities they studied showed an increase in species richness and 41 experienced a decrease. In addition, the rate of change was modest.
That's not to say that there weren't some unfortunate findings, though. Researches did find that which species were living in the places being studied were changing. In fact, about 80 percent of the communities showed substantial changes in species composition, averaging about 10 percent change per decade.
"Right under our noses, in the same place that a team might have looked a decade earlier, or even just a year earlier, a new assemblage of plants and animals may be taking hold," said Nick Gotelli in a news release.
The findings reveal that it's not all about the number of species, but also about the composition. For example, coral reefs could be replaced by communities dominated by algae. While there may be more species richness because of this, the fact that entire ecosystems are shifting means that conservation efforts will have to target the type of species rather than just the number.
"We move species around," said Gotelli in a news release. "There is a huge ant diversity in Florida, and about 30 percent of the ant species are non-natives. They have been accidentally introduced, mostly from the Old World tropics, and they are now a part of the local assemblage. So you have increased diversity in local communities because of the global homogenization."
The findings are published in the journal Science.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone