New research shows rising global
temperatures could hit primates hard
Date: August 10, 2016
Source: Concordia University
The consequences of climate
change are an increasing concern for humans around the world. How will we cope
with rising sea levels and climbing temperatures? But it's not just humans who
will be affected by these worldwide shifts -- it's our closest cousins, too:
monkeys, apes and lemurs.
A new Concordia study published
in the International Journal of
Primatology shows that the world's primate populations may be seriously
impacted by climate change.
"Our research shows that
climate change may be one of the biggest emerging threats to primates,
compounding existing pressures from deforestation, hunting and the exotic pet
trade," says Tanya Graham, the article's lead author and an MSc student in
the Department of Geography, Planning and Environment.
She worked with environment
professor Damon Matthews from Concordia and primatology post-doctoral
researcher Sarah Turner from McGill to assess the exposure and potential
vulnerability of all non-human primate species to projected future temperature
and precipitation changes. They found that overall, 419 species of non-human
primates -- such as various species of lemurs, lorises, tarsiers, monkeys and
apes -- will experience 10 per cent more warming than the global average, with
some primate species experiencing increases of more than 1.5 degrees Celsius in
annual average temperature for every degree of global warming.
The researchers also identified
several hotspots of primate vulnerability to climate change, based on the
combination of the number of species, their endangered status and the severity
of climate changes at each location. Overall, the most extreme hotspots, which
represent the upper 10 per cent of all hotspot scores, cover a total area of
3,622,012 square kilometres over the ranges of 67 primate species.
The highest hotspot scores occur
in Central America, the Amazon and southeastern Brazil, as well as portions of
East and Southeast Asia -- prime territory for some of the globe's best-known
primates who call these areas home.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment
You only need to enter your comment once! Comments will appear once they have been moderated. This is so as to stop the would-be comedian who has been spamming the comments here with inane and often offensive remarks. You know who you are!