Biodiversity and Climate Change Transforming the Biosphere
A compilation of scientific essays by leading researchers focusing on the intersection of biodiversity and climate change – from ocean dynamics to the hydrology of the Amazon.
Book link: Yale University Press (2019)
The physical and biological impacts of climate change are dramatic and broad‑ranging. People who care about the planet and manage natural resources urgently need a synthesis of our rapidly growing understanding of these issues. In this compendium, leading experts in the field summarize observed changes, assess what the future holds, and offer suggested responses. From extinction risk to ocean acidification, from the future of the Amazon to changes in ecosystem services, and from geoengineering to the power of ecosystem restoration, this book captures the sweep of climate change transformation of the biosphere.
The book introduces the field of Climate Change Biology, and includes 28 scientific essays and 11 case studies organized in four major parts:
- What changes are we observing?
- What does the past tell us?
- What does the future hold?
- How can conservation and policy respond?
Topics include the shifts in global land and ocean surface temperature and their impacts on biodiversity; historical and geological data from the past that might give us insights to current changes; understanding dynamics hydrological dynamics in the Amazon including evidence on the "flying river"; and the role of better protected area management and the potential for restoration in the midst of rapidly changing ecological dynamics.
Leader editors: Thomas Lovejoy, George Mason University (GMU) and Lee Hannah, Conservation International (CI)