Conservation and Climate
The climate greatly affects species diversity. Global warming, the Southern Oscillation, and other
weather patterns negatively affect conservation efforts. While many of these events cannot be affected
by human intervention, global warming is conclusively a human effort. Measures must be taken to
reduce greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. Conservation efforts must accept these environmental
events beyond human control and work to mitigate the damage that they cause.
El Nino/ Southern Oscillation
The El Nino/ Southern Oscillation event defines the weather patterns of much of the world. La Nina
occurs when the temperature of the Eastern Central Pacific Ocean is 3-5oC cooler than average. Central
America undergoes a dry season during this period. The dry season results in reduced foliage. As plant
life cedes, there is less nesting material available for many different species of animals. However, and
increase in clearing does allow more sunlight through the canopy. Understory growth therefore can
benefit from the increase in sunlight.
The Southern Oscillation also can create disastrous climatic events. Typhoons and hurricanes can
devastate coral reef populations as well as forestry. These events can completely eliminate an
ecosystem. These events are hard to predict and are extremely detrimental to conservation efforts.
La Nina can also affect the coral populations in Central America, particularly on the Pacific side. Coral
populations suffered a 40-50% mortality rate in late 1998. The loss of these ecosystems extends beyond
the reef site. Populations of fish that require the reef to breed and hunt are affected as well.
Global Warming
Global warming can also affect the coral reef population. As with La Nina, global warming causes
bleaching events. As the temperature of the water rises, the symbiotic relationship between the algae
and the coral becomes parasitic as the algae do not supply the coral with adequate nutrients. The coral
responds by ejecting the algae. Both organisms have a high mortality rate outside the relationship. Loss
of coral basically destroys the ecosystem, as it is a keystone species.
A Bleached reef in Cahuita, Costa Rica
Global warming can also allow pathogens greater success. The fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis
is responsible for the extinction of an incredible 67% of Atelopus species, a frog endemic to Central
America. Pathogenic success can decimate populations, and tree frogs are especially vulnerable.
However, other animal and plant life is affected by these pathogens as well.
The climate controls much of the species composition of any ecosystem. Species diversity is the best
indicator of how an environment will respond to climatic change. Preservation of this diversity is
instrumental to preserving ecosystems such as the tropical rainforest.
Bibliography
Peter W. Glynn, Coral reef bleaching in the 1980s and possible connections with global warming, Trends
in Ecology & Evolution, Volume 6, Issue 6, June 1991, Pages 175-179, ISSN 0169-5347,
10.1016/0169-5347(91)90208-F.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/016953479190208F)
Kramer. “Status of Coral Reefs in Northern Central America: Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras,
Nicaragua, and El Salvador. http://www.bio-nica.info/biblioteca/Kramer2000.pdf
Kricher, John. Tropical Ecology. First Edition. Princeton University Press 2011.
Pounds et al. Widespread amphibian extinctions from epidemic disease driven by global warming
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v439/n7073/abs/nature04246.html