Rapid,
human-induced climate change is threatening to push species and
ecosystems outside of habitable environmental conditions. In light of
the growing need to consider climate change in policymaking,
decision-makers need to understand possible impacts of climate change
on biodiversity.
Mesoamerica and the
Caribbean are two of the world’s twenty-five biodiversity hotspots,
teeming with globally significant biodiversity. In Mesoamerica alone,
nearly 8% of the world’s terrestrial species are found on less than 1%
of earth’s landmass (Mauri 2002). Yet, along with other pressures,
climate change poses a large threat to the region's species and
ecosystems.
Over millennia, the warm, wet Mesoamerican and Caribbean climate has
allowed diverse arrays of species and ecosystems to flourish, filling
unique and complex systems of niches. Each has adapted to natural
phenomena such as hurricanes, tropical storms, floods and droughts, and
they have proven to be quite resilient; however, this rich tapestry of
life is constantly threatened by human-induced drivers of environmental
change.
The conversion of natural landscapes such as forests, grasslands, and
wetlands, to agriculture, pastures or settlements is the primary culprit
of habitat loss and the endangerment of species. Like land
degradation, anthropogenic emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon
dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxides, puts the region’s biodiversity at
risk.
Biodiversity comprises many ecosystem services—in the form of food and
medicinal plant products vital to local and national economies,
ecosystems that retain and provide fresh water, prevent erosion and
filter out pollutants, as well as rare and endemic species that display a
place’s unique beauty. Thus, it is especially important to monitor the
possible impacts of climate change on biodiversity.
