More than 300 amphibian and 500 reptile species will become extinct due to climate change in the coming decades and this is likely that this is also the case for hundreds of other species. This was determined by Israeli scientists after performing extensive research on the matter. And even those species living in protected nature reserves are at risk of extinction too.
A new international study, in which a Tel Aviv University researcher took part, has found that amphibians and reptiles inhabiting the world’s nature reserves, or Protected Areas (PAs), will be better protected against climate change than species found outside of these areas but are still likely to be harmed.
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The study, which was published in the journal Nature, found that over 90% of amphibian and reptile species currently have suitable habitats in protected areas and that this proportion is expected to remain high under future climate change scenarios. In contrast, the proportion of species with suitable habitats outside of Protected Areas is expected to decline significantly, leading to increased extinction risk.
The study’s findings highlight the importance of protected areas in conserving biodiversity under climate change. They also suggest that efforts to expand and strengthen Protected Areas should be a priority for conservationists around the world.
Some of the key findings of the study include the fact that protected areas are currently home to over 90% of amphibian and reptile species. Also, the proportion of species with suitable habitats in protected areas is expected to remain high under future climate change scenarios. The proportion of species with suitable habitats outside of Protected Areas is expected to decline significantly under future climate change scenarios. And increased extinction risk is expected for species outside of Protected Areas under future climate change scenarios.
The study’s findings have important implications for conservation planning. They suggest that Protected Areas should be a key focus for conservation efforts in the face of climate change. Additionally, the study’s findings highlight the need to expand and strengthen Protected Areas in order to maximize their conservation benefits.
Prof. Shai Meiri of Tel Aviv University’s School of Zoology, Wise Faculty of Life Sciences and The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History took part in the study, in collaboration with leading researchers from 19 countries. The study was published in the prestigious journal Nature Communications.
The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of existing Protected Areas in protecting the amphibians and reptiles living within them under future climate scenarios, as well as to identify conservation gaps in order to outline a road map for the development of conservation actions based on the current global network of Protected Areas.
Prof. Meiri: “In this study, we collected distribution data for more than 14,000 species of amphibians and reptiles — about 70 percent of the known species — to perform a global assessment of the conservation effectiveness of Protected Areas in an era of climate change, using species distribution models. Our analyses revealed that approximately 91 percent of the amphibian and reptile species we examined are protected, to some degree, in protected areas, and that this proportion will remain unchanged under future climate change. Furthermore, species protected in Protected Areas will lose smaller portions of their distribution ranges inside the nature reserve than outside of them. Therefore, the proportion of species within reserves is expected to increase.”
Prof. Meiri said they predict more than 300 of the amphibian species and 500 of the reptile species they studied will become extinct due to climate change in the coming decades, and probably also hundreds of species for which we did not have sufficient data to model.
