Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Protecting endangered species under future climate change: From single-species preservation to an anticipatory policy approach

  • Forum
  • Published:
Environmental Management Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Anthropogenic climate climate change presents a unique challenge for endangered species policy and an opportunity for policy makers to develop a more predictive and robust approach to preserving the nation's biological resources. Biological and ecological reactions to shifting climate conditions and the potential feedbacks and synergistic effects of such changes may threaten the well-being of many species, particularly of those already in jeopardy of extinction. The United States Endangered Species Act of 1973 will fail to keep pace with increasing numbers of species needing protection as long as it remains focused on protecting species individually. The actmust not be abandoned, however; it holds tremendous promise for preserving biological diversity through a more proactive, anticipatory perspective. The current Endangered Species Act should be reinforced and improved by better integration of scientific expertise into habitat and community preservation listing decisions and recovery plan devlopment. Given the uncertainties surrounding long-term environmental consequences of human activities and resource use, a longer-term perspective must be integrated into all efforts to protect our biotic resources.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Literature Cited

  • Bazzaz, F. A. 1990. The response of natural ecosystems to the rising global CO2 levels.Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 21: 167–196.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bloomgarden, C. A. 1994. Protecting endangered species under future climatic change: from single-species protection to an adaptive policy approach (MS thesis). Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonnett, M., and K. Zimmerman. 1991. Politics and preservation: the Endangered Species Act and the northern spotted owl.Ecology Law Quarterly 18: 105–171.

    Google Scholar 

  • Botkin, D. B., D. A. Woodby, and R. A. Nisbet. 1991. Kirtland's warber habitats: A possible early indicator of climatic warming.Biological Conservation 56: 63–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bull, J. J., and R. C. Vogt. 1979. Temperature-dependent sex determination in turtles.Science 206: 1186.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Byelich, J., M. E. DeCapita, G. W. Irvine, R. E. Ratke, N. I. Johnson, W. R. Jones, H. Mayfield, and W. J. Mahalak, 1985. Kirtland's warbler recovery plan. US Fish and Wildlife Service, Rockville, Maryland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, J. S. 1993. Paleoecological perspectives on modeling broad-scale responses to global change. Pages 315–332in P. M. Kareiva, J. G. Kingsolver, and R. B. Huey (eds.) Biotic interactions and global change. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, Massachusetts.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, M. B. 1976. Pleistocene biogeography of temperate deciduous forests.Geoscience and Man 13: 13–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, M. B. 1981. Quaternary history and the stability of forest comunities. Pages 132–153in D. C. West, H. H. Shugart, and D. B. Botkin (eds.), Forest succession: Concepts and application. Springer-Verlag, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, M. B., and C. Zabinski. 1992. Changes in geographical range resulting from greenhouse warming: Effects on biodiversity in forests. Pages 297–308in R. L. Peters and T. E. Lovejoy (eds.), Global warming and biological diversity. Yale University Press, New Haven.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dawson, W. R. 1992. Physiological responses of animals to higher temperatures. Pages 158–170in R. L. Peters and T. E. Lovejoy (eds.), Global warming and biological diversity. Yale University Press, New Haven.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dennis, R. L. H., and T. G. Shreeve. 1991. Climatic change and the Briths butterfly fauna: Opportunities and constraints.Biological Conservation 55: 1–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dobson, A., A. Jolly, and D. Rubenstein. 1989. The greenhouse effect and biological diversity.Trends in Ecology and Evolution 4: 64–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doremus, H. 1991. Patching the ark: Improving legal protection of biological diversity.Ecology Law Quartely 18: 265–333.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eamus, D., and P. C. Jarvis. 1989. The direct effects of increase in the global atmospheric CO2 concentration on natural and commercial temperate trees and forests.Advances in Ecological Research 19: 1–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ehrlich, P. R., and J. Roughgarden. 1987. The science of ecology. Macmillan, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Flather, C. H., L. A. Joyce, and C. A. Bloomgarden. 1994. Species endangerment patterns in the United State. U S Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station. General Technical Report RM-241, Fort Collins, Colorado.

  • GAO (General Accounting Office). 1992. Endangered Species Act: Types and numbers of implementing actions. Briefing report to the Chairman, Committee on Science, Space and Technology. US House of Representatives (GAO/RCED-92-131BR, May 1992). General Accounting Office, Washington, DC.

    Google Scholar 

  • IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). 1990. Climate change: The IPCC scientific assessment. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jaeger, J. 1988. Developing policies for responding to climatic change: A summary of the discussions and recommendations of the workshops held in Villach (28 September–2 October 1987) and Bellagio (9–13 November 1987), under the auspices of the Berijer Institute, Stockholm. World Meteorological Institute, Geneva, Switzerland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leopold, A. 1949. A Sand County almanac. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lester, R. T., and J. P. Myers. 1991. Double jectopardy for migrating wildlife. Pages 119–133in R. L. Wyman (ed.), Global climate change and life on earth. Routledge, Chapman and Hall, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacArthur, R. H. 1972. Geographical ecology: Patterns in the distribution of species. Harper and Row, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manabe, S., and R. Wetherald. 1986. Reduction in summer soil wetness induced by an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide.Science 232: 626.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McDonald, K. A., and J. H. Brown, 1992. Using montane mammals to model extinctions due to global change.Coservation Biology 6 (3): 409–415.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murphy, D. D. 1988. Challenges to biological diversity in urban areas. Pages 71–82in E. O. Wilson (ed.), Biodiversity. National Academy Press, Washington, DC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Myers, N. 1992. Synergisms: the joint effects of climate change and other forms of habitat destruction. Pages 344–354in R. L. Peters and T. E. Lovejoy (eds.), Global warming and biological diversity. Yale University Press, New Haven.

    Google Scholar 

  • Northern spotted owl v. Hodel. 1988. 716 F. Supp. 479 (1988).

  • Noss, R. F. 1991. From endangered species to biodiversity. Pages 227–246in K. A. Kohm (ed.), Blancing on the brink of extinction: the Endangered Species Act and lessons for the future. Island Press, Washington, DC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Overpeck, J. T., P. J. Bartlein, and T. Webb, III. 1991. Potential magnitude of future vegetation change in eastern North America: Comparisons with the past.Science 254 692–695.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parsons, P. A. 1989. Conservation and global warming: A problem in biological adaptation to stress.Ambio 18 (6): 322–325.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peters, R. L., and J. D. Darling. 1985. The greenhouse effect and nature reserves.BioScience 35 (11): 707–717.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rodenhouse, N. L., 1992. Potential effects of climatic change on a neotropical migrant landbird.Conservation Biology 6 (2): 263–272.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rohlf, D. J. 1991. Six biological reasons why the Endangered Species Act doesn't work—and what to do about it.Conservation Biology 5 (3): 273–282.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Root, T. L. 1993. Effects of global climate change on North American birds and their communities. Pages 280–292in P. M. Kareiva, J. G. Kingsolver, and R. B. Huey (es.), Biotic interactions and global change. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, Massachusetts.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rubenstein, D. L. 1992. The greenhouse effect and changes in animal behavior: Effects on social structure and life-history strategies. Pages 180–192in R. L. Peters and T. E. Lovejoy (eds.), Global warming and biological diversity, Yale University Press, New Haven.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schlesinger, M. E., and J. F. B. Mitchell. 1987. Climate model simulations of the equilibrium climatic response to increased carbon dioxide.Reviews of Geophysics 25: 760–798.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schneider, S. H. 1987. Climate modeling.Scientific American 156 (5): 72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schneider, S. H. 1989. Global warming: Are we entering the greenhouse century? Vintage Books. New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schneider, S. H. 1993. Scenarios of global warming. Pages 9–23in P. M. Kareiva, J. G. Kingsolver, and R. B. Huey (eds.), Biotic interactions and global change. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, Massachusetts.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schneider, S. H., L. Mearns, and P. H. Gleick. 1993. Climate-change scenarios for impact assessment. Pages 38–55in R. L. Peters and T. E. Lovejoy (eds.), Global warming and biological diversity. Yale University Press, New Haven.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, J. M., B. Csuti, K. Smith, J. E. Estes, and S. Caicco. 1988. Beyond endangered species: An integrated conservation strategy for the preservation of biological diversity.Endangered Species Update 5 (10): 43–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, J. M., F. Davis, B. Csuti, R. Noss, B. Butterfield, C. Groves, H. Anderson, S. Caicco, F. D'Erchia, T. C. Edwards, Jr., J. Ulliman, and R. G. Wright, 1993. Gap analysis: A geographic approach to protection of biological diversity.Wild-life Monographs 123: 1–41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaffer, M. L. 1987. Minimum viable populations: Coping with uncertainty. Pages 69–86in M. E. Soulé (ed.), Viable populations for conservation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simberloff, D., and J. Cox. 1987. Consequences and costs of conservation corridors.Conservation Biology 1 (1): 63–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soulé, M. E. (ed.). 1987. Viable populations for conservation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England.

    Google Scholar 

  • Soulé, M. E., and D. Simberloff. 1986. What do genetics and ecology tell us about the design of nature reserves?Biological Conservation 35: 19–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • TVA v. Hill. 1978. 437 U.S. 153, 173 (1978).

  • Urban, D. L., M. E. Harmon, and C. B. Halpern. 1993. Potential response of Pacific northwestern forests to climatic change, effects of stand age and initial composition.Climatic Change 23: 247–266.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walker, B. H. 1992. Biodiversity and ecological redundancy.Conservation Biology 6: 18–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Webb, T., III. 1981. 11,000 years of vegetational change in eastern North America.BioScience 31: 501–506.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Webb, T. III. 1992. Past changes in vegetation and climate: lessons for the future. Pages 59–75in R. L. Peters and T. E. Lovejoy (eds.), Global warming and biological diversity. Yale University Press, New Haven.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilcove, D. S., M. McMillan, and K. C. Winston. 1993. What exactly is an endangered species? An analysis of the U.S. endangered species list: 1985–1991.Conservation Biology 7 (1): 87–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woodward, F. I. 1992. A review of the effects of climate on vegetation: ranges, competition, and composition. Pages 105–123in R. L. Peters and T. E. Lovejoy (eds.), Global warming and biological diversity. Yale University Press, New Haven.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wyman, R. L. 1991. Multiple threats to wildlife: climate change, acid precipitation, and habitat fragmentation. Pages 134–155in R. L. Wyman (ed.), Global climate change and life on earth. Routledge, Chapman and Hall, London.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Natural Resources Fernow Hall 312C, Cornell University, 14853, Ithaca, New York, USA

    Carol A. Bloomgarden

Authors
  1. Carol A. Bloomgarden
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

Under appointment from the Graduate Fellowships for Global Change administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Ecducation for the US Department of Energy.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bloomgarden, C.A. Protecting endangered species under future climate change: From single-species preservation to an anticipatory policy approach. Environmental Management 19, 641–648 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02471946

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02471946

Key Words

Search

Navigation