Land-use and climate change within assessments of biodiversity change: A review

Published Date
May 2009, Vol.19(2):306–315, doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2008.09.007
Traditional Peoples and Climate Change

Author 

Jacqueline de Chazal ^a,b,,,

Mark D.A. Rounsevell ^a,c

• aDépartement de Géographie, Université Catholique de Louvain, Place Pasteur, 3, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
• bNational Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, The Australian National University Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
• cCentre for the study of Environmental Change and Sustainability, School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, Drummond Street, Edinburgh EH8 9XP, UK

Received 10 November 2006. Revised 27 August 2008. Accepted 18 September 2008. Available online 26 February 2009.

Abstract

Projected changes in biodiversity are likely inadequately estimated when climate and land-use change effects are examined in isolation. A review of studies of the effects of these drivers singly and in combination highlights little discussed complexities in revising these estimates. In addition to considering interactions, different characterisations of climate change, land-use change and biodiversity greatly influence estimates. Habitat loss leading to decreased species richness is the most common land-use change and biodiversity relationship considered with less attention being given to other land-use changes (e.g. other conversions, fragmentation, different management intensities) and biodiversity characterisations and responses (e.g. selected groups of species, increased species richness). Characterisations of more complex relationships between climate change, land-use change and biodiversity however are currently limited by a lack of process understanding, data availability and inherent scenarios uncertainties.

Keywords

Land use change

Climate change

Impact models

Multiple drivers

Integrated assessment

Biodiversity

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  Corresponding author at: National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, The Australian National University Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia. Tel.: +61 261255008; fax: +61 261250740.

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