New model helps conservationists predict wildlife responses to climate change: study
The model was tested in the Peruvian rainforest. - AFP
SYDNEY: A team of international researchers has developed a powerful new tool to help conservationists predict how wildlife will adapt to climate change and interact with new ecosystems.
The study offered a more targeted approach to protecting biodiversity, according to a press release on Friday (May 30) from Australia's Monash University that led the research.
As rising global temperatures force many species to shift from their traditional habitats, conservationists face the challenge of predicting how these species will interact with new environments and the species already living there, the press release said.
The new model addresses this challenge by offering a comprehensive framework to forecast both habitat suitability and species interactions in shifting ecosystems, it said.
Lead researcher Matthias Dehling from Monash University's School of Biological Sciences said the model seeks to tackle a key challenge in conservation, the limited data available for many species, particularly regarding their interactions with other species.
"The model addresses that problem by borrowing data and observations from similar species to model where a species will occur and with which species they will interact," Dehling said, adding that this is particularly valuable in scenarios involving species translocation, rewilding efforts, or managing the impact of invasive species.
Unlike traditional methods that separately model environmental preferences and species interactions, this new model integrates both, using biological traits such as size and beak shape to anticipate how species might behave in novel ecosystems, said the study published in Ecology Letters.
The model was tested in the Peruvian rainforest and is now set for use in conservation efforts in New Zealand and possibly Antarctica, according to the project in partnership with New Zealand's University of Canterbury and Bioprotection Aotearoa, as well as Germany's Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries. - Xinhua
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