Iberian Peninsula. Climate change is causing species to seek new habitats

Climate change reveals that some species on the Iberian Peninsula are being forced to seek other habitats study Give Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto (FCUP).

The researchers analyzed the effects of climate change on 300 species of vascular plants and animals, between 1979 and 2013. The team focused on ecological niches, that is, a combination of the values ​​of climate variables, after analyzing 19 variables. “The stature of a species, for example, can be the volume between minimum and maximum temperatures and precipitation that a species can withstand”Explains Naftali Celero, a researcher in the Center for Research in Geospatial Sciences at FCUP and first author of the article.

As mentioned in the article, they can search for other altitudes and altitudes, and change their geographical distribution. groundhog (marmot)a species introduced into the Iberian Peninsula, and the Great Tetraz (urogallus tetraus) and Britta Osos (Gypaetus barbatus), among the species that have undergone the greatest changes.

The researcher also warns that “Climate change can lead to the extinction of species when the habitats in which they live become depleted.”.

The FCUP team’s next steps are to understand the new habitats the species are using and whether these changes indicate temperate-temperature habitats.