Perspectives & News

Perspectives

Understanding Human and Climatic Drivers of Ecosystem Change in Mongolia

William Ralston Murl Gardner, Thomas James, Kendra Mack

The traditional pastoral economies of Mongolia, based on livestock and related goods and products, were largely sustainable for thousands of years. However, this balanced relationship between humans and their environment has started to break down in the past few decades. Some research points to climate change as the major force behind the declines in both the health of the steppe ecosystem and...

Forecasting Biodiversity: How Confident Should We Be?

Adam Wilson and Phoebe Zarnetske

 

The majority of research into the impacts of global change has focused on abiotic factors such as warming temperatures and increased concentration of carbon dioxide (IPCC-WGII 2007). However, it is becoming clear that the consequences of biodiversity loss on vital ecosystem functions including primary productivity and decomposition are comparable in magnitude to the major abiotic stressors (...

In the News

400 ppm of CO2: How will sea-level respond?

Submitted by: Yige Zhang

We are currently on the eve of a world with ~400 parts per million (ppm) of atmospheric carbon dioxide (398.35 ppm as of May 2nd, Mauna Loa Observatory). How global climate, sea-level and ecosystems will respond to this level of CO2 level is a key question for global change research. Recently, Foster and Rohling (2013) looked back into Earth’s geological history to explore the relationship...

Shifts in Arctic plants could accelerate warming

Submitted by: Phoebe Zarnetske

Pearson and colleagues (2013) recently showed how the expansion of shrubs and trees in the Arctic could promote even further warming through a series of postive feedbacks. Their modeling study that estimates the future composition and distribution of vegetation across the Arctic indicated shrubs and trees could expand by as much as 50% over current levels by 2050.

...