PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Safe havens revealed for biodiversity in a changed climate

2014-01-13
(Press-News.org) Contact information: Megan Meates
megan.meates@curtin.edu.au
61-892-644-4241
Curtin University
Safe havens revealed for biodiversity in a changed climate Researchers have found a way to project future habitat locations under climate change, identifying potential safe havens for threatened biodiversity.

Associate Professor Grant Wardell-Johnson and Dr Gunnar Keppel from the Curtin University Institute for Biodiversity and Climate, along with lead researcher and former Curtin scientist Dr Tom Schut, now at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, developed an approach to identify potential refugia in declining rainfall environments.

For the first time, their novel approach, recently published in PLOS One and involving Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) instruments, is able to translate a traditional plot observation to the entire landscape.

Dr Wardell-Johnson said this enabled the team to apply expected future changes in rainfall to landscape-scale vegetation and find potential refugial sites, essential for conservation efforts.

"Global warming is a particular issue in Mediterranean-climate regions. It is especially so in the flat landscapes of south-western Australia – home to a global biodiversity hotspot," Dr Wardell-Johnson said.

"South-western Australians have been living through the impacts of a drying climate for more than 40 years and are bracing for a continuing drier and warmer trend.

"Understanding where refugia will be is of particular importance in light of human-caused global warming, to offer the best chances for our precious flora and fauna in times of transformative change."

By using 4-metre x 4-metre plot-based data of vegetation profiles on and around granite outcrops across south-western Australia, the team were able to relate vegetation types to soil depth and rainfall. They found a very strong relationship between all three.

This finding meant the team could compare current climate and future climate under a continuing trend of reduced rainfall in the region.

Dr Wardell-Johnson said that very large shifts in vegetation structure were predicted and able to be mapped for future climates, with greatest changes expected to happen in the highest rainfall areas.

"We found it very likely that some refugia will be found in sites receiving greatest water run-off below granite outcrops, as well as areas where a reduction in rainfall is offset by deeper soil," Dr Wardell-Johnson said.

### This research was funded by an Australian Research Council Grant and carried out in conjunction with the Western Australian Department of Parks and Wildlife, the private industry partner AAM, The University of Western Australia, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Trent University in Canada.

The paper, Rapid characterisation of vegetation structure to predict refugia and climate change impacts across a global biodiversity hotspot, can be found at http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0082778


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Mechanism affecting risk of prostate cancer is found

2014-01-13
Mechanism affecting risk of prostate cancer is found A research group at Biocenter Oulu in Finland has identified a mechanism related to a transcription factor that binds much more strongly onto a particular SNP variant, thereby initiating a genetic programme ...

Scientific study suggests an association between physical doping and brain doping

2014-01-13
Scientific study suggests an association between physical doping and brain doping Survey among triathletes finds correlation between consumption of drugs enhancing physical and mental performance Physical doping and brain doping apparently ...

Viewing macro behaviors of ultra-cold quantum gases through the micro-world

2014-01-13
Viewing macro behaviors of ultra-cold quantum gases through the micro-world In a recent study published in Science researchers have been able to observed, for the first time, the collective spin dynamics of ultra-cold fermions with large ...

Building 'belt' offers cheap, quick repair of earthquake damage

2014-01-13
Building 'belt' offers cheap, quick repair of earthquake damage Four years after the January 2010 earthquake, 145,000 people still remain homeless in Haiti. A cheap and simple technology to repair earthquake damaged buildings – developed at the University of Sheffield ...

Postpartum depression improves with time -- but for many women, depressive symptoms linger

2014-01-13
Postpartum depression improves with time -- but for many women, depressive symptoms linger Up to half of patients develop chronic depression, reports Harvard Review of Psychiatry Philadelphia, Pa. (January 13, 2014) – Research evidence shows that symptoms ...

Towards perfect control of light waves

2014-01-13
Towards perfect control of light waves Detector for the measurement of the waveforms of pulsed laser radiation This news release is available in German. Modern mode-locked lasers are capable of producing extremely short light flashes that ...

No nano-dust danger from facade paint

2014-01-13
No nano-dust danger from facade paint Research into the safety of nanoparticles Five Empa laboratories were involved in the EU «NanoHouse» project, along with four other European research institutes and four industrial ...

Shoulder replacement eases pain, improves motion in rheumatoid arthritis patients, Mayo Study finds

2014-01-13
Shoulder replacement eases pain, improves motion in rheumatoid arthritis patients, Mayo Study finds ROCHESTER, Minn. — Jan. 13, 2014 — Shoulder arthritis is a common problem for rheumatoid arthritis patients: pain and difficulty moving their arms can grow so severe that ...

Multiple myeloma study uncovers genetic diversity within tumors

2014-01-13
Multiple myeloma study uncovers genetic diversity within tumors Subpopulations of cells could have implications for treatment The most comprehensive genetic study to date of the blood cancer multiple myeloma has revealed that the genetic landscape ...

BU study: 1 question may gauge the severity of unhealthy drug and alcohol use

2014-01-13
BU study: 1 question may gauge the severity of unhealthy drug and alcohol use Primary care physicians seeking to determine whether a patient's drug or alcohol use is problematic often have to rely on lengthy questionnaires containing dozens of items with multiple ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

New study investigates effects of ADHD medications on the heart

Research to tackle Prymnesium algal blooms which affect fish populations

Climate and health litigation mounting in Australia as exposure to heatwaves grows

Young females more likely to experience higher social anxiety due to excessive smartphone use than other genders

New research boosts future whooping cough vaccines

Mechanistic understanding could enable better fast-charging batteries

No bones about it: new details about skeletal cell aging revealed

UNM scientists discover how nanoparticles of toxic metal used in MRI scans infiltrate human tissue

UMaine research examines best methods for growing Atlantic sea scallops

Medical cannabis could speed recovery, especially at community recovery homes

Study assesses U.S. image amid weakening of democracy

Two scientific researchers to receive 2025 Ralph L. Sacco Scholarships for Brain Health

Researchers improve chemical reaction that underpins products from foods to fuels

Texas Tech to develop semiconductor power devices through $6 million grant

Novel genomic screening tool enables precision reverse-engineering of genetic programming in cells

Hot Schrödinger cat states created

How cells repair their power plants

Oxygen is running low in inland waters—and humans are to blame

ACP’s Best Practice Advice addresses use of cannabis, cannabinoids for chronic noncancer pain

Beyond photorespiration: A systematic approach to unlocking enhanced plant productivity

How a small number of mutations can fuel outbreaks of western equine encephalitis virus

Exposure to wildfire smoke linked with worsening mental health conditions

Research uncovers hidden spread of one of the most common hospital-associated infections

Many older adults send their doctors portal messages, but who pays?

Fine particulate matter from 2020 California wildfires and mental health–related emergency department visits

Gender inequity in institutional leadership roles in US academic medical centers

Pancreatic cells ‘remember’ epigenetic precancerous marks without genetic sequence mutations

Rare combination of ovarian tumors found in one patient

AI-driven clinical recommendations may aid physician decision making to improve quality of care

Artificial intelligence has potential to aid physician decisions during virtual urgent care

[Press-News.org] Safe havens revealed for biodiversity in a changed climate