Biodiversity – Winners or
Losers?
Instructions - your task
Using the resources available and your own knowledge and judgement, decide how
the species populations will respond to climate change, in terms of distribution and
abundance.
• 3 groups, each group 5 species.
• Each species may be winner or loser as a result of climate change
1. Research each species, decide how it may be affected by climate change
2. Imagine climate change has happened (100-200 years in future)
3. Map its new species distribution in the Broads
Workshop Top Tips
Features that may allow / prevent adaptation
• What habitats do the species live in?
– Fresh / salt / brackish water
– Restricted / rare habitats
– Generalists (species that occur in many habitats)
• Will this habitat be affected by climate change?
– Drying out / flooding
– More salt water
• Will their food or predators be affected?
Species to find out about:
Group 1
Fen orchid
Brown rat
Water lily
Seaweed – eel grass
Otter
Group 2
Herring gull
Grey seal
Eel
Natterjack toad
Bittern
Group 3
Little egret
Fen raft spider
Bats
Swallowtail butterfly
Tentacled lagoon worm