Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Potential Impacts of Global Climate Change to Biodiversity in Anambra State, Nigeria. Climate change has become one of the prime issues threatening the sustainability of worlds’ environment. Besides environment, climate change also has impacts on biodiversity, health and economy of the globe (Sharma, 1975). Changes in Earths’ climate is as result of both natural and human factor. Before humans, changes in climate resulted entirely from natural causes such as changes in Earth’s orbit, changes in solar activity, or volcanic eruptions. Since the Industrial Era began, humans have had an increasing effect on climate, particularly by adding billions of tons of heat-trapping greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Most of the observed warming since the mid-20th century is due to human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. There are a number of components of global environmental change which are largely ecological changes and all have important ecological consequences. Three of the well documented global changes are increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere alterations in the biogeochemistry of the global nitrogen cycle ongoing land use/ land cover change. Human activity – now fossil fuel combustion has increased carbon dioxide concentration. This increase is likely to have climatic consequences and certainly it has direct effects on biota in all Earths’ terrestrial ecosystems. The global nitrogen cycle has been altered by human activity to such an extent that more nitrogen is fixed annually by humanity (primarily from nitrogen fertilizer, legume crops and as byproduct of fossil fuel combustion) than by all natural pathway combined. This added nitrogen alters the chemistry of the atmosphere and of aquatic ecosystems, contributes to eutrophication of the biosphere, and has sustainantial regional effects on biological diversity in the most affected areas. Finally, human land use/ land cover change has transformed one- third to one half of Earths’ crust. This in and of itself probably represents the most important component of global change now and will for some decades to come; it has profound effects on biological diversity on land and on ecosystems downwind and downstream of affected areas (Vitousek, 1993). In Anambra state, the most important feature observed is the almost complete absence of primary forests. Uncontrolled logging and agricultural activities, acid rain, urbanization and quarrying activities have contributed to loss of vegetation. The changes in vegetation will have great implication on biological productivity and it will affect biomass production. It will lead to the impoverishment of biodiversity and various plant species which at present grow in the region may die off. To this effect, the objectives of this study are to Materials and Methods The Study Area Data Collection 1. Data will be collected from Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Environment and Meterological stations. 2. Data on rainfall, temperature, relative humidity, evapouration and sunshine duration for a period of 10 – 20 years. 3. Collect soil data. 4. Prepare species inventory Expected outcome Plants that do respond to elevated carbon dioxide produce tissue with lower nutrient concentration (that is plants with the C3 photosynthetic pathway will gain than plants with the C4 photosynthetic pathway ( Bazzaz 1990, Pooter 1993). As a consequence, the individual herbivores must consume more tissue to acquire sufficient protein and other nutrients for growth and development (Fajer et al. 1991, Field et al. 1989), they generally grow more slowly and suffer higher mortality in the process ( Fajer et al. 1989). Similarly, decomposers may encounter lower quality tissue, with consequences for their own populations and for ecosystem level nutrient cycling (Norby et al. 1986). Additions of nitrogen can be expected to affect consumers, decomposers and symbionts as well as plants. Increases in nitrogen concentrations in plant tissue favour the growth and survival of many consumers (Mattson 1980, Field et al. 1992) and can affect populations of predators and parasites as well (Loader and Damman 1991). The tissue produced by N- fertilized plants often decomposes and releases nutrients more rapidly than that of conspecific unfertilized plants (Vitousek 1983, Berg et al. 1987). For symbionts, added nitrogen would be expected to decrease the activity of nitrogen fixing organisms, as externally supplied N can replace energetically costly fixed N in plant metabolism (Arnolds 1991). Land use change can affect climate both locally and regionally by altering the ways that solar energy is partitioned. Conversion of forest to pasture increases albedo and decreases canopy roughness on a local scale, the net effect is an increase in local temperature and a decrease in humidity; these in turn can affect the potential for forest regeneration (Uhl and Kauffman, 1990). Changes in rainfall can affect soil erosion rates and soil moisture, both of which are important to plants and crop yields. Rainfall amount and timing influences the yield of crops . low rainfall amounts can be detrimental to crop yields, especially if dry periods occur during critical development stages (Owusu, et al. 2012) rainfall increase affects crop yield positively by readily dissolving the nutrients for easy soil absorption by plants (Rosenzweig et al 1995). REFERENCES Arnolds, E. 1991. Decline of ectomycorrhizal fungi in Europe. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 35; 209-244 Fajer, E. D.,M. D. Bowers, and F. A. Bazzar. 1989. The effects of enriched carbon dioxide atmospheres on plants. Insect Herbivore Interactions Science 243; 1198-1200 Fajer, E. D.,M. D. Bowers, and F. A. Bazzar. 1989. The effects of enriched carbon dioxide atmospheres on the buckeye butterfly, Junonia coenia. Ecology 72: 751-754 Field, C.B., F.s. Chapin, P.A. Matson, and H.A. Mooney. 1992. Responses of terrestrial ecosystems to the changing atmosphere: A resource based approach. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 23: 201-236 Loader, C. and H. Damman. 1991. Nitrogen content of Pieris rapae to natural enemies. Ecology 72:1586-1590. Mattson, W.J. 1980. Herbivory in relation to plant nitrogen content. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 11: 119-161 Owusu-Sekyere, J.D., J. Andoh and K. Nyarko.2012. climate change and crop production in the Mfantseman area of Ghana. Pp480. Rosenzweig, C. and D. Hillel 1995. Potential impact of climate change on agriculture Uhl, C., and J.B. Kauffman. 1990. Deforestation fire susceptibility and potential tree responses to fire in the eastern Amazon. Ecology 71: 437-449. Van Vuuren, M.M.I., R. Aerts, F. Berendse and W.D. Visser. 1992. Nitrogen mineralization in heathland ecosystems dominated by different plant species. Biogeochemistry 16: 151-166 Vitousek, P.M. 1983. Nitrogen turnover in a ragweed- dominated first year old field in southern Indiana. American Midland Naturalist 110:46-53.