Species that are already categorized as threatened are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of any climate change. Projected changes in the climate, combined with land-use change

and the spread of invasive alien species, are likely to limit the capability of some species to migrate, and this will lead to further acceleration in the rate of species loss (Singh and Kushwaha 2008). However, the links between biodiversity and climate change run both ways; biodiversity is threatened by climate change, but in some cases the proactive management of biodiversity may reduce the impacts of climate change. However, there will be ‘winners’ as well as ‘losers’. There are several reasons why plants and ARS-1620 ic50 animals in EX 527 price particular may not be able to adapt to the current phase of global warming. In particular, the rapid selleck pace of change means that many species will simply be unable to adapt quickly enough to the new conditions, or to move to regions more suited for their survival. Equally important, the massive changes humans have made to landscapes, river basins, and the oceans of the world, have limited the survival options previously available to a species under pressure from a changing climate. The formation and maintenance of soils suitable for agriculture,

availability of medicinal plants, provision of freshwater, and income from ecotourism, for example, are all underpinned by complex food-webs involving the interaction of species ranging from microscopic bacteria, fungi and protists to the largest animals on Earth. The full extent of organismal interactions in almost all ecosystems is so poorly known that it is difficult to produce meaningful models and predict outcomes if ecological parameters change; there are so many kinds of organisms involved, many of which have unknown

roles, that data on all pertinent variables cannot be obtained. For that reason, the precautionary principle has to be high on the priority list of matters to be taken into account in conserving biodiversity. It is the microclimate, however, that plays a crucial role and in the SPTLC1 maintenance of ecosystem structure and ecological processes. A sound knowledge of the microclimate is vital to the understanding of patterns and the processes in ecosystems, theoretical modelling and management decision making. Behera et al. (2012) studied the impact of key microclimatic variables on the forest community and vice versa. They measured understory PAR (photosynthetically active radiation), ambient CO2, air temperature, surface soil temperature, and air absolute humidity during post-rainy and mid-winter seasons; and observed that PAR and ambient CO2 make the greatest contribution to the microclimate in defining forest community and plant species associates. The relationships between biodiversity, productivity and climate are complex.