Rethinking species’ ability to cope with rapid climate change

TY - JOUR

T1 - Rethinking species’ ability to cope with rapid climate change

AU - Hof, Christian

AU - Levinsky, Irina

AU - Bastos Araujo, Miguel

AU - Rahbek, Carsten

PY - 2011/9

Y1 - 2011/9

N2 - Ongoing climate change is assumed to be exceptional because of its unprecedented velocity. However, new geophysical research suggests that dramatic climatic changes during the Late Pleistocene occurred extremely rapid, over just a few years. These abrupt climatic changes may have been even faster than contemporary ones, but relatively few continent-wide extinctions of species have been documented for these periods. This raises questions about the ability of extant species to adapt to ongoing climate change. We propose that the advances in geophysical research challenge current views about species' ability to cope with climate change, and that lessons must be learned for modelling future impacts of climate change on species.

AB - Ongoing climate change is assumed to be exceptional because of its unprecedented velocity. However, new geophysical research suggests that dramatic climatic changes during the Late Pleistocene occurred extremely rapid, over just a few years. These abrupt climatic changes may have been even faster than contemporary ones, but relatively few continent-wide extinctions of species have been documented for these periods. This raises questions about the ability of extant species to adapt to ongoing climate change. We propose that the advances in geophysical research challenge current views about species' ability to cope with climate change, and that lessons must be learned for modelling future impacts of climate change on species.

U2 - 10.1111/j.1365-2486.2011.02418.x

DO - 10.1111/j.1365-2486.2011.02418.x

M3 - Journal article

SN - 1354-1013

VL - 17

SP - 2987

EP - 2990

JO - Global Change Biology

JF - Global Change Biology

IS - 9

ER -