BaCCC/Module 6/Lesson 3/Part 2

How are animals and plants adapting to climate change?

“	The changing climate, to quote Margaret Atwood [a Canadian author], “is not climate change, it’s everything change.” In considering everything change, we have to think about multi-species migration, how forests are shrinking, how drought is exacerbated.	”
—Rosetta S. Elkin, Professor of Landscape Architecture

“	Plants are migrating. Bird species are migrating. The habitat is moving. My current [course] is called “Adrift and Indeterminate: Designing for Perpetual Migration on Virginia’s Eastern Shore.”	”
—Gary R. Hilderbrand, Professor of Landscape Architecture

Animals

The Global Education Project’s Animals at Risk From Climate Change programme tells us that climate change is causing shifts in the distribution and behaviour of many species of animals, including migration patterns. You can find out more about it at:

Climate Change

Changes in temperature and precipitation patterns are altering the timing and location of key life cycle events, such as breeding and feeding, which can cause species to move to new areas to find suitable conditions.

For example, some migratory birds are shifting their migration routes or changing the timing of their migration in response to changes in the timing of the availability of food. Some marine mammals, such as whales and seals, are also changing their migration patterns in response to changes in sea ice.

These changes in migration patterns can have cascading impacts on ecosystems, disrupting food webs and altering species interactions. In some cases, animals may not be able to migrate far enough to escape the effects of climate change, leading to declines in populations or even extinction.

Here are some ways in which non-human animals are adapting to climate change:

• Phenological shifts: Changes in the timing of life cycle events, such as breeding and migration, to match shifting environmental conditions. (Phenology is the study of cyclic and seasonal natural phenomena, especially in relation to climate and plant and animal life.)
• Range shifts or migration: Moving to new geographic areas that have more favourable climates.
• Evolutionary adaptations: Changes in physical and behavioural traits that increase an organism’s ability to survive in a changing environment.
• Behavioural adjustments: Altering their behaviour, such as foraging patterns, to cope with changing conditions.
• Symbiotic relationships: Developing or strengthening relationships with other species to better adapt to the changing environment.

To help mitigate the impacts of climate change on wildlife, conservationists are working to protect and restore habitats and to promote sustainable practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Plants

Study: Decline in Animal Population is Hurting Plants’ Ability to Adapt to Climate Change (3:57)

Watch Study: Decline in Animal Population is Hurting Plants’ Ability to Adapt to Climate Change (3:57), which outlines how plants and animals are struggling to keep pace with climate change.

Study: Decline in Animal Population is Hurting Plants’ Ability to Adapt to Climate Change (3:57)

(You can adjust the playback speed and/or turn on subtitles/captions.)

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This article is also helpful: “Species Are Seeking Higher Ground to Escape Climate Change: But What Happens When There’s Nowhere Left to Go?”:

Species Seeking Higher Ground to Escape Climate Change

About half of all plants rely on animals to disperse their seeds, and these plants are struggling. That is because they cannot move or “migrate” to more suitable climates unless the animals that usually eat and poop out their seeds (or carry them on their fur) do their job. In other words, seed dispersal is how plants “move,” but animals are migrating away from areas of global heating, leaving the plants, and their seeds, behind. Globally, the ability of animal-dispersed plants to keep pace with climate change has already been reduced by 60% due to the loss of mammals and birds, especially in the temperate regions of the world.

In a study of maple trees, Harvard University scientists are discovering how they evolve and adapt to weather and how they are responding to climate stress. The following was said in an interview with scientists Jake Grossman and Al Kovaleski on climate change and what it means for maple trees.

Grossman: “Climate change does two things to weather. First, over time, average weather conditions change. The most obvious example of this is that our climate is getting warmer. So, every year, the average low temps and, to a lesser extent, the average high temps get higher. Second, climate change increases variability in weather. So, some years feature multiple extreme snow or rainstorms and flooding whereas other years feature droughts. One way of thinking about this is in terms of ‘generation time’ – the years from when a [tree] seedling sprouts to when it produces its own first daughter seed. This probably ranges from 10 to 30 years for maples. Maples have been evolving independently as a genus for about two million generations. This means that if you traced back any given maple tree two million generations, you would hit the grandmother of all maples. During that time, the climate changed a lot, going from periods in which there was no ice anywhere on Earth through several ice ages, and maples evolved along with it. By 2200, in about seven maple generations, the climate could change so much that it resembles a past extremely hot climate that the world hasn’t seen for roughly 1.5 million maple generations, or 50 million years. Maples will probably be able to survive somewhere on Earth in this new, hot climate, but they absolutely will not be able to evolve to be adapted to it in seven generations. For reference, our hominid ancestors began using tools only 1.8 million years – or 60,000 maple generations ago, so this future climate scenario will also be totally unlike anything we have ever seen. Kovaleski: “Another thing we have to consider when studying the adaptation of plants is their plasticity, how plants can mold themselves to the conditions they are exposed to. [T]here is year-to-year variation in weather, and plants respond slightly differently each year to accommodate this variation. This means that the same plant adapts to a range of climates. This is important to acknowledge because a lot of times we’ll see that the climate is changing, but plants still seem to be adapted to it. However, they’re being continuously pushed toward their limit now – even if we can’t perceive it. The early onset of spring this year can leave plants at an extreme risk of great damage should a late freeze occur.” Some species may not be able to adapt fast enough to keep up with the rapid pace of climate change, and some may face extinction as a result. Conservation efforts to protect and restore habitats, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and slow down the pace of climate change can help reduce the risk of extinction and support the ability of species to adapt. Human-assisted adaptation is another way to help plant species to adapt, as explained below by Grossman. Grossman: “[G]iven that we are already committed to considerable climate warming, we can manage our forests and farm fields, gardens and parks to be more resilient to the warmer temperatures and more erratic patterns of rain and snow that we will experience in the future. This could mean experimenting with planting more drought-tolerant species . . . with the expectation that our climate . . . will continue to get warmer and more drought-prone. Or it could include ‘assisted migration,’ when we plant seeds or whole plants in areas that might not be ideal for them now, but where they might thrive in future climate scenarios.” — Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University, United States, “How Plants Adapt to Climate Change” (Blackwell, 2020)

Activity

Do you remember learning about the Köppen Climate Classification System or Map in Module 1? This would be a great use for that system. Look at the map to determine which zones are a bit warmer than yours already, and then look online to make a list of plants (in your learning journal) in those zones that you could plant in your yard, neighbourhood or community. As the climate heats up, those young plants will feel more and more at home and begin to thrive.

(Business idea alert! Doing this process in reverse, you could also start cuttings of plants that grow well in your zone to share with people who live in slightly colder zones that are heating up.)