Climate Impact on Species Composition and Structure

Dear Colleagues,

It is increasingly becoming obvious to all that it is necessary to preserve the Earth’s biological diversity and avoid the degradation of ecosystems. We need to understand the role that climate variations play in species composition and structure. Anthropic activities have drastically changed biotopes and modified climatic services. This progressive modification in climate services has been accelerated in the last twenty years, uncovering an important ecosystem risk. The preservation of ecosystem services requires the commitment of societies to promoting the protection of ecosystems. This commitment requires a global vision of the climate problem and strong leadership to address complicated environmental decisions.

We need to preserve the ecosystem services that we use, thus increasing our resilience to climate change. An example where this vision is necessary is the management of freshwater. Currently, the overuse of freshwater sources and the modification of their properties is one of the causes of the loss of climate services. The contribution of freshwater from rivers is essential to the establishment of coastal currents. When these currents are cold, they prevent the progressive heating of the sea surface, increasing the absorption of atmospheric gases in the sea. The loss of climatic service of gas absorption implies climate feedback—the heating of the Earth’s surface for the greenhouse effect. Human activities such as excessive regulation of hydrographic basins for irrigation in agriculture or the use of inadequate desalination methodologies that produce waste brine contribute to the salinization of coastal waters.

Coastal salinization also modifies ecosystem services. For example, the seagrass ‘Posidonia oceanica’ protects the coast by avoiding erosion when there are storms. The increment of salinity has led to the loss of seagrass prairie and drastic changes in species composition and the structure of coastal ecosystems associated with seagrass. If there is sea surface heating, there is an increment of steam. This steam increment with adequate atmospheric conditions can derive and increase flood frequency. Floods accelerate the loss of soil, the increment of organic matter, pollutants, and turbidity. This change in parameters negatively affects seagrass development. Human activities such as changes in soil use for agriculture or the excessive use of forest resources favor this situation. ‘Posidonia oceanica’ can adapt its life cycle to sea heating, increasing its flowering and seed production. The increment of freshwater in coastal communities leads to floods, activating the surface current, which favors the territorial expansion of species thanks to the adaptation of flotation of seeds. However, excessive heating of waters can also be detrimental to the species. It is necessary to understand the adaptive capacity of the ecosystem to variations in climate services before reaching a critical point of no return.

I would like to invite you to participate in this Special Issue on ‘Climate Impact on Species Composition and Structure’. In this issue, articles that focus on the understanding of how climate impact affects ecosystems and how the development of disruptive technologies or methodologies can contribute to mitigating these effects to prevent the loss of ecosystem services are invited. Preference will be given to those articles that use clear language to focus on the proposed theme.

Regards,

Dr. Pedro Antonio Arnau
Guest Editor

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• biodiversity
• ecosystem restoration
• climate change
• ecosystem risk