Delegates at the ESA-SCBO 2022 joint conference today heard from some of Australia’s leading ecologists and conservationists about how species are responding to the impacts of continued climate change. 

Rising sea and air temperatures are resulting in worrying trends, including changing rainfall patterns and fire regimes, increasing frequency of extreme-weather events, shifting species distributions, population declines, and increased mortality.

“The severity and cross-taxon nature of the recent declines in biodiversity call attention to the likely impacts of climate change on plants, animals, and ecosystems long before the end of the century”, said Dr Melissa Price from the University of Hawaii.

This calls for coordinated and collaborative actions across the Pacific, such as translocations outside of historical ranges, to prevent extinction, she said.

Delegates also heard that many species across the world are experiencing substantial shifts in their range in response to climate change. However there remain gaps in our understanding, including how plants are shifting in the Southern Hemisphere compared to the Northern Hemisphere and how species in the world’s arid regions are being impacted. These gaps underscore the importance of the work that Australian ecologists are undertaking to fill them. 

In the face of increasing impacts of the climate crisis, delegates presented approaches to better manage and protect species. 

Research undertaken on soil seed banks of two high-altitude plant communities showed that the number and diversity of emerged seedlings, and the timing of their emergence, changed in response to environmental changes. 

“This has implications for future plant recruitment in high-altitude ecosystems,” said Jeronimo Vazquez-Ramirez from Deakin University. 

“Seed banks may contribute to the resilience of ecosystems into the future via their long-term persistence and viability,” he said.

Uncertainties around specific climate change impacts on some species increase challenges for management. 

However, “uncertainty is not a sufficient reason for inaction,” according to Dr April Reside from The University of Queensland. 

In her research on two cockatoo species in southern Queensland, she recommends management options that could be applied to a wide range of species, including: 

• increased connectivity of habitats
• increase availability of high quality food 
• improve the soil quality in order to improve the quality of vegetative food
• succession planning to maintain an appropriate age structure of foraging habitat
• climate adapted restoration

“Proactive, climate-smart management goals are needed for conserving species,” she said.

Participants available for interview – contact Grace Heathcote; Ecological Society of Australia on 0404 542 523 or