Mapping the Drivers of Climate Change Vulnerability for Australia's Threatened Species.

Effective conservation management for climate adaptation rests on understanding the factors driving species' vulnerability in a spatially explicit manner so as to direct on-ground action. However, there have been only few attempts to map the spatial distribution of the factors driving vulnerabi...

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Main Authors: Jasmine R Lee, Ramona Maggini, Martin F J Taylor, Richard A Fuller
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2015-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4446039?pdf=render
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author Jasmine R Lee
Ramona Maggini
Martin F J Taylor
Richard A Fuller
author_facet Jasmine R Lee
Ramona Maggini
Martin F J Taylor
Richard A Fuller
author_sort Jasmine R Lee
collection DOAJ
description Effective conservation management for climate adaptation rests on understanding the factors driving species' vulnerability in a spatially explicit manner so as to direct on-ground action. However, there have been only few attempts to map the spatial distribution of the factors driving vulnerability to climate change. Here we conduct a species-level assessment of climate change vulnerability for a sample of Australia's threatened species and map the distribution of species affected by each factor driving climate change vulnerability across the continent. Almost half of the threatened species assessed were considered vulnerable to the impacts of climate change: amphibians being the most vulnerable group, followed by plants, reptiles, mammals and birds. Species with more restricted distributions were more likely to show high climate change vulnerability than widespread species. The main factors driving climate change vulnerability were low genetic variation, dependence on a particular disturbance regime and reliance on a particular moisture regime or habitat. The geographic distribution of the species impacted by each driver varies markedly across the continent, for example species impacted by low genetic variation are prevalent across the human-dominated south-east of the country, while reliance on particular moisture regimes is prevalent across northern Australia. Our results show that actions to address climate adaptation will need to be spatially appropriate, and that in some regions a complex suite of factors driving climate change vulnerability will need to be addressed. Taxonomic and geographic variation in the factors driving climate change vulnerability highlights an urgent need for a spatial prioritisation of climate adaptation actions for threatened species.
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spelling doaj.art-4671459b25e44dda90dee3aed415ae272022-12-21T23:42:04ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032015-01-01105e012476610.1371/journal.pone.0124766Mapping the Drivers of Climate Change Vulnerability for Australia's Threatened Species.Jasmine R LeeRamona MagginiMartin F J TaylorRichard A FullerEffective conservation management for climate adaptation rests on understanding the factors driving species' vulnerability in a spatially explicit manner so as to direct on-ground action. However, there have been only few attempts to map the spatial distribution of the factors driving vulnerability to climate change. Here we conduct a species-level assessment of climate change vulnerability for a sample of Australia's threatened species and map the distribution of species affected by each factor driving climate change vulnerability across the continent. Almost half of the threatened species assessed were considered vulnerable to the impacts of climate change: amphibians being the most vulnerable group, followed by plants, reptiles, mammals and birds. Species with more restricted distributions were more likely to show high climate change vulnerability than widespread species. The main factors driving climate change vulnerability were low genetic variation, dependence on a particular disturbance regime and reliance on a particular moisture regime or habitat. The geographic distribution of the species impacted by each driver varies markedly across the continent, for example species impacted by low genetic variation are prevalent across the human-dominated south-east of the country, while reliance on particular moisture regimes is prevalent across northern Australia. Our results show that actions to address climate adaptation will need to be spatially appropriate, and that in some regions a complex suite of factors driving climate change vulnerability will need to be addressed. Taxonomic and geographic variation in the factors driving climate change vulnerability highlights an urgent need for a spatial prioritisation of climate adaptation actions for threatened species.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4446039?pdf=render
spellingShingle Jasmine R Lee
Ramona Maggini
Martin F J Taylor
Richard A Fuller
Mapping the Drivers of Climate Change Vulnerability for Australia's Threatened Species.
PLoS ONE
title Mapping the Drivers of Climate Change Vulnerability for Australia's Threatened Species.
title_full Mapping the Drivers of Climate Change Vulnerability for Australia's Threatened Species.
title_fullStr Mapping the Drivers of Climate Change Vulnerability for Australia's Threatened Species.
title_full_unstemmed Mapping the Drivers of Climate Change Vulnerability for Australia's Threatened Species.
title_short Mapping the Drivers of Climate Change Vulnerability for Australia's Threatened Species.
title_sort mapping the drivers of climate change vulnerability for australia s threatened species
url http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4446039?pdf=render
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