Effects of Climate Change on Terrestrial Ecosystems

The effects of climate change on terrestrial ecosystems are as follows:

Species and Populations Change Along with Changing Climate

Due to climate change different species function differently. Some species adapt to the conditions and the others that cannot adapt will become extinct. In the population that adapts to the conditions, a change in their behaviour and physical characteristics is observed. Thus change in the climate can lead to increase, decrease or extinction of some populations which will overall affect the biodiversity of a region. Change is observed in the range of species inhabiting the geographic area when there is change in the climatic conditions.

Timing of Natural Cycles Change

Most of the plants and animal species depend on climatic conditions such as temperature change and water conditions for triggering the stages of their life cycles. But due to change in the climate their life cycle gets disturbed. As a result, the species that depend on each other for some time of the year will not be in sync. An example of plankton can be taken, plankton are the major food source for young fish but they are more sensitive to temperature change than the fish. Thus due to change in the temperature enough amount of plankton will not be available for young fishes for their growth.

Interaction Among the Ecosystem Alters

The interaction among the species and populations changes with the environment and one another due to changes in the climatic conditions which can be felt throughout the entire ecosystem. This will affect the food webs which is the feeding relationship among different organisms in an ecosystem. Planktons and plants are at the first level of the food web and all other animals higher in the web depend on them for their food sources. Thus every organism is interconnected through the food web and if one species in this web is adversely affected then all the others will feel its effects.

Ecosystem Services Get Affected

The ecosystem provides many of the basic services to the humans, amongst which food is the main component. As climate change affects the plants and animals, the quality and availability of food gets affected drastically. In conditions of drought and high temperatures, scarcity of food for the human population arises as most of the plants get dried up and animals die.

Climate Change Impact on Terrestrial Ecosystem: Terrestrial ecosystems are natural ecosystems that include forests, grasslands, deserts, etc. It includes all the ecosystems that are found on land. The climate change impact on ecosystem is widely seen. There are many effects of climate change on terrestrial ecosystems which affect biodiversity. Climate controls almost every aspect of the ecosystem such as how animals behave, how plants grow, how animals develop, and how all these interact with the physical environment. In this article, we will look into the climate change impact on ecosystem – Terrestrial ecosystem.