Can wildlife adapt to climate change? - Erin Eastwood
Summary
TLDRThe video script addresses the urgent need for adaptation to climate change, highlighting how humans and nature must evolve. While humans utilize technology for solutions like smart cities and water management, plants and animals are undergoing evolutionary changes to survive. Examples include tawny owls changing color for camouflage and pitcher plant mosquitoes adapting to warmer temperatures. Scientists are identifying species with heritable genetic adaptations and are working to protect biodiversity by establishing climate refuges and aiding species migration, emphasizing our role in preserving Earth's ecosystems.
Takeaways
- ⏏️ Climate change is causing significant shifts in global weather patterns, leading to rising temperatures, sea levels, and droughts.
- 🌳 Humans are adapting to climate change through technological advancements, such as developing smarter cities and improving water management systems.
- 🐦 For plants and animals, adaptation often involves evolutionary changes that can occur more rapidly under strong selective pressures like climate change.
- 🔬 Evolutionary adaptation usually happens over thousands to hundreds of thousands of years, but can be accelerated in response to rapid environmental changes.
- 🌿 Many species are relocating and changing physical traits like body size and breeding dates as a form of adaptation, but these are often non-heritable changes.
- 🦉 The tawny owl in northern Europe has evolved a genetic shift from a pale gray to a brown plumage due to reduced snowfall, providing a camouflage advantage.
- 🦟 Pitcher plant mosquitoes have evolved to enter dormancy later in the year as a response to warmer temperatures.
- 🐞 Two-spot ladybug populations have shifted to non-melanic coloration to avoid overheating in warmer climates.
- 🐟 Pink salmon have adapted to warmer waters by spawning earlier to protect their eggs.
- 🌱 Wild thyme plants in Europe are producing more repellent oils to deter herbivores that proliferate in warmer conditions.
- 🔍 Scientists are identifying and studying about 20 species that have shown evolutionary adaptations to rapid climate change, with the hope of discovering more.
- 🌏 While evolution can help some species adapt, many others will rely on human intervention, such as creating climate refuges and protecting mobile species' migration paths.
- 🌱 Efforts are underway globally to help ecosystems adapt, including establishing climate refuges and conducting climate change assessments in protected areas.
Q & A
What is the significance of adapting to climate change for both humans and other species?
-Adapting to climate change is crucial for humans and other species to survive in a changing environment. For humans, it involves using technological advancements to create smarter cities and better water management systems. For plants and animals, adaptation may involve evolutionary changes to cope with rapid environmental shifts.
How does evolutionary adaptation typically occur in nature?
-Evolutionary adaptation usually happens over long time scales, ranging from thousands to hundreds of thousands of years. However, under strong selective pressures like rapid climate change, these adaptations can occur more quickly.
What are some examples of nonheritable changes that organisms might undergo in response to environmental changes?
-Nonheritable changes include plastic changes to an individual's physical traits, such as body size adjustments or shifts in the timing of flowering or breeding. These changes are not passed down to offspring and are limited in their ability to help organisms meet long-term environmental challenges.
Why are scientists interested in finding heritable evolutionary changes in species' DNA?
-Scientists are interested in heritable evolutionary changes because these genetic adaptations can be passed down through generations, potentially providing species with a long-lasting advantage in coping with environmental changes like climate change.
How have tawny owls adapted to the changing climate in northern Europe?
-Tawny owls in northern Europe have adapted to the changing climate by evolving from a pale gray color, which was advantageous for camouflage in snowy conditions, to a brown color. This genetic change has allowed them to blend in better with the reduced snow cover and exposed forest environments.
What genetic changes have been observed in pitcher plant mosquitoes due to climate change?
-Pitcher plant mosquitoes have rapidly evolved to take advantage of warmer temperatures by entering dormancy later in the year, allowing them to adapt to the changing climate.
How have two spot ladybug populations changed in response to climate change?
-Two spot ladybug populations have shifted almost entirely to the non-melanic color combination, which scientists believe helps them avoid overheating in warmer climates.
What adaptation have pink salmon made to protect their eggs in warmer waters?
-Pink salmon have adapted to warmer waters by spawning earlier in the season, which helps protect their sensitive eggs from the negative effects of increased temperatures.
How are wild thyme plants in Europe responding to climate change?
-Wild thyme plants in Europe are producing more repellent oils to protect themselves against herbivores that become more common in warmer climates.
What steps are being taken to help species that cannot adapt to climate change through evolution?
-To assist species that cannot evolve quickly enough, humans are identifying critical climate refuges, setting aside protected areas, and facilitating the movement of mobile species to more suitable climates. Additionally, existing parks and protected areas are undergoing climate change assessments to help their wildlife adapt.
Why is it important for humans to preserve biodiversity in the face of climate change?
-Preserving biodiversity is important because it sustains ecosystems and human life in many ways. It also ensures the continued existence of species that may not be able to adapt quickly enough to climate change, thus maintaining the balance and health of our planet.
Outlines
🌿 Evolutionary Adaptations to Climate Change
This paragraph discusses the urgent need for adaptation to climate change, highlighting the difference in adaptation strategies between humans and other species. While humans rely on technological advancements, plants and animals may undergo evolutionary changes. The paragraph explains that evolutionary adaptation typically occurs over thousands to hundreds of thousands of years, but can be accelerated under strong selective pressures like rapid climate change. It provides examples of such changes, including the tawny owl's shift from a pale gray to a brown coloration due to reduced snowfall, and other species like pitcher plant mosquitoes, two-spot ladybugs, pink salmon, and wild thyme plants that have also shown genetic adaptations to warmer climates. The paragraph concludes by emphasizing the importance of human intervention to protect biodiversity, which is crucial for the planet's ecosystems and human survival.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Climate Change
💡Adaptive Evolution
💡Plastic Changes
💡Genetic Dominance
💡Natural Selection
💡Pitcher Plant Mosquitoes
💡Two Spot Ladybug
💡Pink Salmon
💡Wild Thyme
💡Climate Refuges
Highlights
Adapting to climate change is crucial for both humans and wildlife.
Humans can use technology to create smarter cities and better water management systems.
Plants and animals may adapt through evolution, which usually occurs over thousands to hundreds of thousands of years.
Rapid climate change can accelerate evolutionary adaptation in some species.
Many species are relocating and changing physical traits like body size and breeding dates.
Plastic or nonheritable changes in physiology are limited in helping organisms adapt.
Scientists are looking for heritable evolutionary changes in species' DNA.
Tawny owls in northern Europe have evolved from pale gray to brown due to less snowfall.
The brown color variant of tawny owls is now flourishing due to better camouflage in exposed forests.
Pitcher plant mosquitoes have evolved to enter dormancy later due to warmer temperatures.
Two spot ladybug populations have shifted to non-melanic color to avoid overheating.
Pink salmon have adapted to warmer waters by spawning earlier.
Wild thyme plants in Europe are producing more repellent oils to protect against herbivores.
About 20 species have been identified with evolutionary adaptations to rapid climate change.
Scientists aim to discover more species evolving in response to climate change among millions on the planet.
Many species will rely on human intervention for survival in a changing world.
Human actions like creating climate refuges and protecting mobile species are crucial for biodiversity.
Existing parks are undergoing climate change assessments to help wildlife adapt.
It is within human power to preserve the planet's biodiversity, which sustains us in many ways.
Transcripts
Rising temperatures and seas,
massive droughts,
changing landscapes.
Successfully adapting to climate change is growing increasingly important.
For humans, this means using our technological advancement
to find solutions,
like smarter cities and better water management.
But for some plants and animals,
adapting to these global changes involves the most ancient solution of all:
evolution.
Evolutionary adaptation usually occurs along time scales of thousands
to hundreds of thousands of years.
But in cases where species are under especially strong selective conditions,
like those caused by rapidly changing climates,
adaptive evolution can happen more quickly.
In recent decades,
we've seen many plants,
animals,
and insects relocating themselves
and undergoing changes to their body sizes,
and the dates they flower or breed.
But many of these are plastic,
or nonheritable changes to an individual's physical traits.
And there are limits to how much an organism can change its own physiology
to meet environmental requirements.
That's why scientists are seeking examples of evolutionary changes
coded in species' DNA that are heritable,
long-lasting,
and may provide a key to their future.
Take the tawny owl.
If you were walking through a wintry forest in northern Europe 30 years ago,
chances are you'd have heard, rather than seen,
this elusive bird.
Against the snowy backdrop,
its plumage would have been near impossible to spot.
Today, the landscape is vastly different.
Since the 1980s,
climate change has led to significantly less snowfall,
but you'd still struggle to spot a tawny owl
because nowadays, they're brown.
The brown color variant is the genetically dominant form of plumage in this species,
but historically,
the recessive pale gray variant triumphed
because of its selective advantage in helping these predators blend in.
However, less snow cover reduces opportunities for camouflage,
so lately, this gray color variant
has been losing the battle against natural selection.
The offspring of the brown color morphs, on the other hand,
have an advantage in exposed forests,
so brown tawny owls are flourishing today.
Several other species have undergone
similar climate-change-adaptive genetic changes in recent decades.
Pitcher plant mosquitoes have rapidly evolved
to take advantage of the warmer temperatures,
entering dormancy later and later in the year.
Two spot ladybug populations,
once comprised of equal numbers of melanic and non-melanic morphs,
have now shifted almost entirely to the non-melanic color combination.
Scientists think that keeps them from overheating.
Meanwhile, pink salmon have adapted to warmer waters
by spawning earlier in the season to protect their sensitive eggs.
And wild thyme plants in Europe are producing more repellent oils
to protect themselves against the herbivores
that become more common when it's warm.
These plants and animals belong to a group of about 20 identified species
with evolutionary adaptations to rapid climate change,
including snapping turtles,
wood frogs,
knotweed,
and silver spotted skipper butterflies.
However, scientists hope to discover more species evolving
in response to climate change out of 8.7 million species on the planet.
For most of our planet's astounding and precious biodiversity,
evolution won't be the answer.
Instead, many of those species will have to rely on us
to help them survive a changing world
or face extinction.
The good news is we already have the tools.
Across the planet, we're making on-the-ground decisions
that will help entire ecosystems adapt.
Critical climate refuges are being identified and set aside,
and projects are underway to help mobile species
move to more suitable climates.
Existing parks and protected areas are also doing climate change check-ups
to help their wildlife cope.
Fortunately, it's still within our power
to preserve much of the wondrous biodiversity of this planet,
which, after all, sustains us in so many ways.
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