Learn about climate change ecology with interactive simulations and visualizations. Explore ecosystem responses to climate change, species adaptation, and environmental impacts.
Climate change ecology is the study of how climate change affects ecological systems, including populations, communities, ecosystems, and the biosphere. This field examines the responses of organisms, species, and ecological processes to climate variations and changes.
Climate Change Ecology: Focuses on biological responses to climate change, including species, populations, and ecosystems.
Climate Science: Focuses on atmospheric physics, climate modeling, and climate system dynamics.
Climate Change Ecology: Studies how climate change affects ecological systems and processes.
Conservation Biology: Focuses on protecting biodiversity and managing species and ecosystems.
Climate Change Ecology: Specifically studies ecological responses to climate change.
Environmental Science: Broader field studying all environmental interactions and impacts.
Problem: Analyze how a species' range might shift under different climate scenarios.
Scenario: A species currently occupies a range of 1000 km² with a thermal tolerance of 15-25°C. Climate models predict a 2°C increase over the next 50 years.
Task: Calculate the potential range shift and identify new suitable habitats.
Using the species' thermal tolerance and climate projections, the range may shift northward by approximately 150-200 km. The species would need to disperse at a rate of 3-4 km per year to track suitable climate conditions.
Problem: Calculate the potential for phenological mismatch between a plant species and its pollinator.
Scenario: A plant flowers based on temperature accumulation (growing degree days), while its pollinator emerges based on photoperiod (day length). Climate warming affects temperature but not day length.
Task: Determine the timing difference under warming scenarios.
With warming, the plant may flower 10-15 days earlier while the pollinator emergence remains unchanged. This creates a temporal mismatch that could reduce pollination success by 40-60%.
Problem: Assess the impact of climate change on ecosystem services.
Scenario: A forest ecosystem provides carbon sequestration, water regulation, and biodiversity conservation. Climate change affects forest productivity and composition.
Task: Quantify changes in ecosystem service provision.
Under warming scenarios, carbon sequestration may initially increase due to enhanced growth, but decline after reaching thermal thresholds. Water regulation may decrease due to altered precipitation patterns. Biodiversity may decline as species composition shifts.
Hover to see warming impacts
Hover to see forest changes
Hover to see ocean impacts
Hover to see elevation changes