Climate change impacts on biodiversity: a short introduction with special emphasis on the ALARM approach for the assessment of multiple risks

Abstract

Climate change impacts on biodiversity: a short introduction with special emphasis on the ALARM approach for the assessment of multiple risks. In: Ott J (Ed) (2010) Monitoring Climatic Change With Dragonfl ies. BioRisk 5: 3–29. doi: 10.3897/biorisk.5.856 How to study multiple risks: setting the scene Climate change and human modifi cation of the landscape are synergistic (Travis 2003), and aff ect biodiversity and the stability of ecosystems. Th is is because certain species will be favoured by changes, while others will not. However, as stated by Fanslow (2006), the simplicity stops here, with Samways et al. (1999) illustrating the diff eren-tial impact of climate change events on a range of closely related species. It is relatively easy to test how increased temperature will aff ect an organism. We can isolate almost any organism, put it in a box and observe how it responds to environmental changes we can simulate in a controlled setting, such as a laboratory. We might fi nd, for exam-ple, that warming benefi ts this isolated organism. But what if warming also benefi ts a BioRisk 5: 3–29 (2010)