Wiping out species decreases resilience to climate change
Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - 07:32
in Earth & Climate
It is tragic whenever any species is lost. Now it appears that the impact of species loss is far-reaching, much more than previously thought. The symbiotic relationships that develop in the environment as a result of high biodiversity make ecosystems more resilient to change. The loss of a species can knock that ecosystem out of balance, weakening its resilience thereby making it more susceptible to events such as climate change. These findings were revealed in a new study from biologists at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden and published in the journal Ecology Letters.