Transcript Presentation to the Manitoba Climate Change Task Force

Climate Change and Wildlife
Manitoba Chapter of The Wildlife Society
Cory Lindgren, Past President
Who is the Manitoba Wildlife
Society ???
• The Wildlife Society is the non profit scientific
and educational society of nearly 100
professionals and students.
• Society members are dedicated to sustainable
management of wildlife resources and their
habitats.
• Ecology is the primary scientific discipline of
the wildlife profession.
Objectives of Presentation
• Impress upon the panel the need to
examine how climate changes are
currently having deleterious impacts on
wildlife and wildlife habitat, and
• The need to address these concerns in
any government action plan on climate
change.
The Good ……………….
The Bad…………………...
The Ugly ………………..
The Good………………..
Climate change scenarios will bring
longer summers and warmer winters
to Manitoba
The Bad and Ugly…………...
“Assessments based upon computer models,
paleoecological studies of past climate change,
and small-scale experiments suggest that
extensive disruptions of most ecological
communities are likely under the generally
accepted climate scenarios”.
•Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change
(World Wildlife Federation)
Climate change may be disrupting the
hibernation and migration patterns of
animals and birds, according to a recent
study.
For example, marmots, which usually hibernate for
eight months, are emerging earlier, risking starvation as
they wait longer and longer for the snow to melt.
Marmots are appearing 38 days earlier than they did 23
years ago, according to the study.
American Robins are migrating an average of two weeks
earlier than they did 23 years ago, moving from lowaltitude wintering grounds to high-altitude summer
breeding grounds. They, too, must wait longer for the
snow to melt before they can feed and nest.
According to McCarty (2001) in
Conservation Biology, studies
suggest that global climate
changes may in fact be a
CURRENT threat to numerous
species and ecosystems……..
Ecological Changes attributed to recent
Climate Change (McCarty 2001)
•Changes in the geographic range of 59 bird
species by as much as 18.9 km over the last
20 years;
•Changes in the breeding dates of 20 bird
species by 14-21 days over the last 17 years;
•Changes in the migration dates of 39 birds
species by as much as 5.5 days over 19 years.
Global Warming
has already
killed off its first
species:
Costa Rica's
Golden Toad
(World Wildlife
Federation)
Effects of Climatic
Warming on Boreal
Forest Lakes
Data from the
Experimental Lakes
Area of northwest
Ontario revealed a 2°C increase in air and
water temperature
since the late 1960s.
Schindler et al. 1990,
1996
Polar Bears Go
Hungry Due to Global
Warming
CHURCHILL, Manitoba, Canada, November
22, 1999 (ENS) - Polar bears in Hudson Bay are
having trouble finding enough seals to eat
because of global warming, according to three
scientists with the Canadian Wildlife Service.
Weight for both male and female polar bears is
declining and female bears are having fewer
cubs.
Species loss could be as high as 20 percent
in sensitive ecosystems such as northern
Canada, according to the report released
by the World Wildlife Fund and Canada's
David Suzuki Foundation.
The report warned that 35 percent of the
Earth's existing natural habitat could be
"fundamentally altered" in the next 100
years, with up to 60 percent destruction in
the boreal and Arctic regions of Canada.
Global extinctions as a result of Climate
Change can be expected and have
already been demonstrated.
Local species
are most
likely to be
replaced by
exotic,
invasive
species.
Conclusions
Studies indicated wildlife and conservation scientists need
to look at climate change not just as a future threat to
wildlife but also as a current THREAT to wildlife.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (1996)
reports that changes in the Earth’s climate will likely
continue and even accelerate over the next 50-100 years.
It is of significant importance that the provincial
government recognize the current consequences as well as
any future consequences of climate change on our wildlife
and wildlife habitats.
The Manitoba Wildlife Society would like to offer its help to
the Panel