Role of Major Forest Biomes in Climate Change Mitigation …
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different regions respond to climate change in different ways and they also differ in
their ability to sustain the livelihoods of people dependent on them. Since biodiversity and ecosystem services largely contribute to the socio-economic sector as well,
this review focusses mainly on the eco-biological impacts of climate change and the
role of different forest biomes towards climate change mitigation.
2 Eco-Biological Impacts of Climate Change
The impacts of climate change on eco-biological aspects could vary across different ecosystems based on their type, location, composition, resilience, structural
attributes, etc. Understanding the core eco-biological impacts of climate change is
thus the primary step towards planning and implementing climate change mitigation
and adaptation measures (Scheffers et al. 2016).
2.1 Loss of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
Biodiversity is considered as an important indicator of Earth’s health (Reed 2012) and
helps in providing ecosystem services as well as boosts nation’s economy. Various
ecosystem services rendered by natural ecosystems can be broadly classified into four
categories: (i) supporting services (primary productivity, nutrient cycling, pollination, seed dispersal, soil formation, etc.), (ii) regulating services (nutrient retention,
climate regulation, air and water purification, flood control, etc.), (iii) provisioning services (providing food, timber, wood products, non-timber forest produce,
medicine, etc.) and (iv) cultural services (having cultural, aesthetic values, educational services, etc.) (Reed 2012). Climate change impact on biodiversity affects
humans in several ways from a local to a global scale. There is a unanimous consensus that climate change has already caused a significant loss of biodiversity and
thereby disrupted the chain of ecosystem services and economic goods. Although
natural ecosystems are endowed with the ability to recover from a disturbance and
resume their ecological functions, the loss in biodiversity that is being witnessed
in recent time due to climate change might not be reversible. Hence, many species
(both aquatic and terrestrial) are facing the dire possibility of extinction, if appropriate interventions are not made. Under the on-going pace of climate change, coupled
with anthropogenic disturbances, the earth is likely to undergo sixth mass extinction
in the next 240 years (Barnosky et al. 2011; Hooper et al. 2012; Pravalie 2018). It
has been predicted that approximately 10% of the species may extinct with every
1.0 °C rise in temperature (Benton and Twitchett 2003; Mayhew et al. 2008; Reed
2012). Around 20–30% of flora and fauna are expected to become extinct, in the
event of a temperature rise of 2–3 °C above pre-industrial levels (Fischlin et al.
2007) and under the scenario of mid-range climatic warming, 15–37% of species are
likely to be ‘committed to extinction’ by 2050 (Mooney et al. 2009). Approximately
485
different regions respond to climate change in different ways and they also differ in
their ability to sustain the livelihoods of people dependent on them. Since biodiversity and ecosystem services largely contribute to the socio-economic sector as well,
this review focusses mainly on the eco-biological impacts of climate change and the
role of different forest biomes towards climate change mitigation.
2 Eco-Biological Impacts of Climate Change
The impacts of climate change on eco-biological aspects could vary across different ecosystems based on their type, location, composition, resilience, structural
attributes, etc. Understanding the core eco-biological impacts of climate change is
thus the primary step towards planning and implementing climate change mitigation
and adaptation measures (Scheffers et al. 2016).
2.1 Loss of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
Biodiversity is considered as an important indicator of Earth’s health (Reed 2012) and
helps in providing ecosystem services as well as boosts nation’s economy. Various
ecosystem services rendered by natural ecosystems can be broadly classified into four
categories: (i) supporting services (primary productivity, nutrient cycling, pollination, seed dispersal, soil formation, etc.), (ii) regulating services (nutrient retention,
climate regulation, air and water purification, flood control, etc.), (iii) provisioning services (providing food, timber, wood products, non-timber forest produce,
medicine, etc.) and (iv) cultural services (having cultural, aesthetic values, educational services, etc.) (Reed 2012). Climate change impact on biodiversity affects
humans in several ways from a local to a global scale. There is a unanimous consensus that climate change has already caused a significant loss of biodiversity and
thereby disrupted the chain of ecosystem services and economic goods. Although
natural ecosystems are endowed with the ability to recover from a disturbance and
resume their ecological functions, the loss in biodiversity that is being witnessed
in recent time due to climate change might not be reversible. Hence, many species
(both aquatic and terrestrial) are facing the dire possibility of extinction, if appropriate interventions are not made. Under the on-going pace of climate change, coupled
with anthropogenic disturbances, the earth is likely to undergo sixth mass extinction
in the next 240 years (Barnosky et al. 2011; Hooper et al. 2012; Pravalie 2018). It
has been predicted that approximately 10% of the species may extinct with every
1.0 °C rise in temperature (Benton and Twitchett 2003; Mayhew et al. 2008; Reed
2012). Around 20–30% of flora and fauna are expected to become extinct, in the
event of a temperature rise of 2–3 °C above pre-industrial levels (Fischlin et al.
2007) and under the scenario of mid-range climatic warming, 15–37% of species are
likely to be ‘committed to extinction’ by 2050 (Mooney et al. 2009). Approximately