Climate Change and WildlifeManitoba Chapter of The Wildlife SocietyManitoba Chapter of The Wildlife Society

Cory Lindgren, Past PresidentCory Lindgren, Past President

Who is the Manitoba Wildlife Who is the Manitoba Wildlife Society ???Society ???

• The Wildlife Society is the non profit scientific and educational society of nearly 100 professionals and students.

• Society members are dedicated to sustainable management of wildlife resources and their habitats.

• Ecology is the primary scientific discipline of the wildlife profession.

Objectives of PresentationObjectives of Presentation

• Impress upon the panel the need to examine how climate changes are currently having deleterious impacts on wildlife and wildlife habitat, and

• The need to address these concerns in any government action plan on climate change.

The Good ……………….

The Bad…………………...

The Ugly ………………..

The Good………………..

Climate change scenarios will bring longer summers and warmer winters to Manitoba

The Bad and Ugly…………...

“Assessments based upon computer models, paleoecological studies of past climate change, and small-scale experiments suggest that extensive disruptions of most ecological communities are likely under the generally accepted climate scenarios”.

•Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change

(World Wildlife Federation)

Climate change may be disrupting the hibernation and migration patterns of

animals and birds, according to a recent study.

For example, marmots, which usually hibernate for eight months, are emerging earlier, risking starvation as they wait longer and longer for the snow to melt. Marmots are appearing 38 days earlier than they did 23 years ago, according to the study.

American Robins are migrating an average of two weeks earlier than they did 23 years ago, moving from low-altitude wintering grounds to high-altitude summer breeding grounds. They, too, must wait longer for the snow to melt before they can feed and nest.

According to McCarty (2001) in Conservation Biology, studies

suggest that global climate changes may in fact be a

CURRENT threat to numerous species and ecosystems……..

Ecological Changes attributed to recent Ecological Changes attributed to recent Climate Change (McCarty 2001)Climate Change (McCarty 2001)

•Changes in the geographic range of 59 bird species by as much as 18.9 km over the last 20 years;

•Changes in the breeding dates of 20 bird species by 14-21 days over the last 17 years;

•Changes in the migration dates of 39 birds species by as much as 5.5 days over 19 years.

Global Warming has already killed off its first species:Costa Rica's Golden Toad

(World Wildlife Federation)

Effects of Climatic Effects of Climatic Warming on Boreal Warming on Boreal

Forest LakesForest Lakes

Data from the Experimental Lakes Area of northwest Ontario revealed a 2°-C increase in air and water temperature since the late 1960s.

Schindler et al. 1990, 1996

CHURCHILL, Manitoba, Canada, November 22, 1999 (ENS) - Polar bears in Hudson Bay are having trouble finding enough seals to eat because of global warming, according to three scientists with the Canadian Wildlife Service. Weight for both male and female polar bears is declining and female bears are having fewer cubs.

Polar Bears Go Polar Bears Go Hungry Due to Global Hungry Due to Global

WarmingWarming

Species loss could be as high as 20 percent in sensitive ecosystems such as northern Canada, according to the report released

by the World Wildlife Fund and Canada's David Suzuki Foundation.

The report warned that 35 percent of the Earth's existing natural habitat could be "fundamentally altered" in the next 100

years, with up to 60 percent destruction in the boreal and Arctic regions of Canada.

Global extinctions as a result of Climate Change can be expected and have already been demonstrated.

Local species are most likely to be replaced by exotic, invasive species.

ConclusionsConclusions

Studies indicated wildlife and conservation scientists need to look at climate change not just as a future threat to wildlife but also as a current THREAT to wildlife.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (1996) reports that changes in the Earth’s climate will likely continue and even accelerate over the next 50-100 years.

It is of significant importance that the provincial government recognize the current consequences as well as any future consequences of climate change on our wildlife and wildlife habitats.

The Manitoba Wildlife Society would like to offer its help to the Panel