Whither Our Wildlife?

Flowers and trees, birds and butterflies, fish and forest creatures—all types of species are now demonstrably being impacted by the effects of climate change, from warming temperatures to shifting precipitation patterns, sea level rise to extreme weather events.

Scientists have long warned that variations in climate could not help but alter ecosystems and disrupt species, and two newly-published studies in January’s edition of Nature, undertaken by scholars at Stanford, Wesleyan, and the University of Texas, highlight the ways in which these theories about species displacement due to global warming are in fact being borne out, in diverse geographies and ecosystems around the world.

The studies reported in Nature were broad in scope, yet bear specifically on our own landscapes here in the Northeast, which are as vulnerable to climate-induced reshaping as any others. The list of candidates for forced relocation—or worse, extinction—in our own backyards, state parks and forests, or local waterways is long; it makes for some pretty depressing reading.

There are many aspects of climate change that have the potential to challenge the survival of a species. All living creatures—humans included—are biologically adapted to certain predictable, climatically-prescribed variables: for example, temperature, water availability, and seasonal dynamics (i.e. food availability!). When those conditions are altered, some species are particularly sensitive. Certain trees are good cases in point: maples, beech and birch, which make up the bulk of the forests in central New England precisely because they are so well adapted to our climate, are all predicted to “move” out of our region because they won’t grow as well in our new, warmer climate as they would further north.

Winter flounder are another (commercially important) climate-specialized species, as are rainbow, brown and brook trout. These fish populations will begin—and in some cases, already have begun—to dwindle in the Northeast as the climate changes.

The winter flounder’s intolerance for warming waters spells serious
economic consequences for the region’s fishing industry.

Added to basic climate sensitivity is the potential for habitat loss, resulting perhaps from the disappearance of “sensitive” species, or from climate change-induced sea level rise, or from the more frequent extreme weather events that are also an offshoot of global warming. Birds like the piping plover, the bald eagle or the black-capped chickadee (to name only a few of potentially hundreds) are likely to become a lot more scarce around the Northeast as the estuarine, barrier island or forest habitat they rely on disappears. And many woodland creatures—from grouse to martins to moose—may also be forced out of the region as the tree species they rely upon begin to die off here and take root in more hospitable climes, changing the composition and character of our forests.

Another climate-related threat to the plants and animals that share our space is pests and predator species. Many forest pest populations have traditionally been kept in check by cold winter temperatures and a moderate growing season. But as the winters warm, pests like the hemlock wooly adelgid—a menace to hemlocks and other tree species—will multiply beyond the naturally balanced bounds that the forest can support; our hemlock stands will be decimated. Gypsy moths and pear thrips—preying on oak and maple species, respectively—are additional examples of creatures whose populations are benefiting from climate change in the Northeast, at the expense of our native ecosystems.

Two unsavory species who will thrive in a warmer Northeast region:
the hemlock wooly adelgid and pear thrip.
Photos courtesy USC and UVM cooperative extensions.

All told, it’s a pretty grim prognosis, made more sad and vivid by two certainties: first, that we are already beginning to see the same tangible evidence of species loss here that is being evidenced in other parts of the globe, as catalogued in the Nature research; and second, that we will see more and more of these modeled scenarios come to pass in our region if we let our contributions to global climate change continued unchecked. As we lose species, we lose not only the characteristic flavor or charm of the spaces we call home—we lose many of the natural resource-based underpinnings that support our lives here in the Northeast, including our renowned fall foliage and maple syrup, our fisheries, and our forest industries.

But there is hope, and it lies in everyday decisions as tangible and ubiquitous as the threatened Northeastern wildlife you can see from your windows and your doorstep. We can preserve the stability of our climate and the landscapes that we love by paying attention to the purchases we make, the appliances we use and the homes we live in, and the cars we drive (or don’t drive!) By learning about energy efficiency and non-polluting energy choices, and applying those lessons to our daily decisions, we will continue to enjoy the unique beauty and biological diversity that make this region livable—that make it ours—and that make it, indeed, home.

For more information about the effects of climate change on wildlife in our region, you can start with the New England Regional Assessment, or the National Wildlife Federation’s climate change pages (both of which were sources in the writing of this article.) To find out more about how your actions can help reduce climate change and keep the Northeast hospitable for the plants and animals we share it with and depend upon, go to Clean Air-Cool Planet’s website at www.cleanair-coolplanet.org. Or give us a call (603-422-6464); we’d love to work with you in making your workplace, college or community a leader in climate solutions.

--Jennifer Andrews