Climate Change's Hidden Impact on Biodiversity Lurking in the Youth

Strategic Insights -

Scientists have uncovered a significant factor contributing to the effects of climate change on local biodiversity: the impact of climate change on juveniles. A study from the University of Aberdeen and McGill University Canada found that the conditions juvenile dragonflies experience in lakes, streams, and wetlands shape the diversity of terrestrial adults across Europe. This discovery challenges conventional biodiversity models that focus solely on the adult stage and provides a new framework for understanding the cascading effects of climate and habitat changes.

Key Takeaways:

  • The study found that the traits developed during a dragonfly's juvenile aquatic stage play a major role in shaping biodiversity patterns observed in the adults across Europe.
  • The conditions in lakes, streams, and wetlands that shape the morphological diversity of aquatic juveniles (nymphs) are more important in explaining the diversity of terrestrial adults than conditions on land.
  • The findings challenge conventional biodiversity models that focus only on the adult stage and provide a new framework for understanding the cascading effects of climate and habitat changes across life stages.
  • Study author Dr. Lesley Lancaster stated that many predictions for how climate might impact diversity are based on observations of adult stages, but the study finds that the observed climate impacts are largely indirect consequences of processes impacting juveniles.
  • Lead author Dr. Lars L. Iversen emphasized the importance of considering life stage in driving climate responses, and that the results can help guide biodiversity scientists in forecasting climate responses.

Statistics:

  • 80% of the morphological diversity of terrestrial adult dragonflies can be explained by the conditions in lakes, streams, and wetlands that shape the diversity of aquatic juveniles.
  • The study found that direct impacts of climate on adults become more important at higher latitudes.
  • The study was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Germany), and the Leibniz Association.

Sources:

  • Global Ecology and Biogeography
  • University of Aberdeen
  • McGill University Canada