6. Ecosystem sensitivity


Climate Change and Biodiversity Conservation



A doubling of atmospheric CO2 concentrations from pre­industrial levels by around the middle of the next century implies a global average rate of warming in excess of the 0.1°C per decade. This has often been quoted as an ecological threshold for severe impacts of climate change on ecosystems. In fact, this target is dangerously permissive in terms of environmental effects, because adverse impacts on ecosystems and species would occur at rates lower 0.1°C per decade. Many species and ecosystems will exhibit non­linear responses to climate change, and a range of thresholds, varying in scale and consequence, can be identified along a response curve. Certain types of habitat are known to be especially vulnerable, even to minor changes in climate.






Many species and ecosystems will exhibit non­linear responses to climate change


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