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Animal Physiology, Reproduction and developement > Changing environments > Flashcards

Flashcards in Changing environments Deck (12)
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1
Q

What are the consequences of changing environments?

A

Physiological adaptations under past environments may not be beneficial under future climates and organisms may lack appropriate physiological adaptations for new environmental conditions

2
Q

What percentage of birds are currently living above their optimum performance temperature?

A

15% above their ambient thermal tolerances, predicted to rise to 36% by 2080

3
Q

What percentage of mammals are currently living above their optimum performance temperature?

A

16%, 47% by 2080

4
Q

What happens if species aren’t able to respond to temperature changes adequately?

A

Population declines and extinction

5
Q

What are the possible responses to change in temperature?

A

Change in space - move to areas with different climate
Temporal changes - change in time of breeding/migratory events etc
Phenotypic change

6
Q

How does increasing temperature affect oxygen availability in the oceans?

A

decreasing oxygen levels with temp

7
Q

How does increasing temperature in the oceans affect fish

A

Metabolic rate increases as temperature increase, which means a greater demand for oxygen, however increasing temp in the ocean means decreases in oxygen levels. This leads to an overall decrease if fish body size

8
Q

What are the wider consequences smaller fish size?

A

May have an effect on other species that feed on them

Many fish species are economically important

9
Q

Why is it important to predict how climate change will affect species?

A

For conservation and placement of protected areas

Economically important species need to be conserved

10
Q

Birds in cages were kept at two temperature levels, what were the results if the experiment?

A

Showed no difference in response to different ambient temperature levels

11
Q

What are the most important predictions that need to be made about the future?

A

How large will future emissions be?
Occurrence of extreme climatic events
How close a species is to its thermal tolerance limits
How species interactions will change

12
Q

Which species are likely to be negatively effected by increasing temperatures?

A

Insects in the tropics