Assessing species' vulnerability to climate change is a prerequisite for developing effective strategies to conserve them. The last three decades have seen exponential growth in the number of studies evaluating how, how much, why, when, and where species will be impacted by climate change. We provide an overview of the rapidly developing field of climate change vulnerability assessment (CCVA) and describe key concepts, terms, steps and considerations. We stress the importance of identifying the full range of pressures, impacts and their associated mechanisms that species face and using this as a basis for selecting the appropriate assessment approaches for quantifying vulnerability. We outline four CCVA assessment approaches, namely trait-based, correlative, mechanistic and combined approaches and discuss their use. Since any assessment can deliver unreliable or even misleading results when incorrect data and parameters are applied, we discuss finding, selecting, and applying input data and provide examples of open-access resources. Because rare, small-range, and declining-range species are often of particular conservation concern while also posing significant challenges for CCVA, we describe alternative ways to assess them. We also describe how CCVAs can be used to inform IUCN Red List assessments of extinction risk. Finally, we suggest future directions in this field and propose areas where research efforts may be particularly valuable. This article is categorized under: Climate, Ecology, and Conservation > Extinction Risk
1.Stellenbosch Univ, Dept Bot & Zool, Global Change Biol Grp, Fac Sci, Merriman Ave, ZA-7600 Stellenbosch, Matieland, South Africa 2.Int Union Conservat Nat, Climate Change Specialist Grp, Species Survival Commiss, Gland, Switzerland 3.NatureServe, Arlington, VA USA 4.SUNY Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY 11794 USA 5.Stellenbosch Univ, Dept Bot & Zool, Ctr Invas Biol, Fac Sci, Matieland, South Africa 6.Univ Melbourne, Sch BioSci, Melbourne, Vic, Australia 7.Natl Wildlife Federat, Washington, DC USA 8.Univ York, Dept Biol, York YO10 5DD, N Yorkshire, England 9.Univ La Verne, Dept Biol, La Verne, CA USA 10.Univ Leeds, Sustainabil Res Inst, Fac Environm, Leeds, W Yorkshire, England 11.Conservat Int, Moore Ctr Sci, Arlington, VA USA 12.Univ British Columbia, Dept Forest & Conservat Sci, Fac Forestry, Vancouver, BC, Canada 13.Sapienza Univ Roma, Dipartimento Biol & Biotecnol Charles Darwin, Global Mammal Assessment Programme, Rome, Italy 14.British Trust Ornithol, Thetford, England 15.Univ Cambridge, Dept Zool, Conservat Sci Grp, Cambridge, England 16.Univ York, Dept Environm & Geog, Wentworth Way, York YO10 5NG, N Yorkshire, England 17.Zool Soc London, Inst Zool, London, England 18.Univ Queensland, Sch Earth & Environm Sci, Brisbane, Qld, Australia 19.Wildlife Conservat Soc, Global Conservat Program, 2300 Southern Blvd, Bronx, NY USA 20.Univ Durham, Dept Biosci, Durham, England
Recommended Citation:
Foden, Wendy B.,Young, Bruce E.,Akcakaya, H. Resit,et al. Climate change vulnerability assessment of species[J]. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS-CLIMATE CHANGE,2019-01-01,10(1)