Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Originally published in Science Express on 2 December 2004
Science 24 December 2004:
Vol. 306. no. 5705, pp. 2197 - 2198
DOI: 10.1126/science.1107481
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Perspectives

ATMOSPHERE:
Ecological Versus Climatic Thresholds

Mark Maslin

How will the terrestrial vegetation respond to future climate change? In his Perspective, Maslin argues that studies of past climates can help to answer this question. He highlights the report by Jennerjahn et al., who show that ecological or vegetation responses to climatic changes may be delayed if an ecological threshold has to be crossed. In another study, Tzedakis et al. show that once such a threshold is crossed, the vegetation may not necessarily recover with a return to the original climatic conditions. Thus, both the time scale and the reversibility of future ecological changes as a result of global warming remain unclear.

The author is at the Environment Change Research Centre, Department of Geography, University College London, London WC1H 0AP, UK. E-mail: mmaslin{at}geog.ucl.ac.uk

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Climate-Driven Ecosystem Succession in the Sahara: The Past 6000 Years.
S. Kropelin, D. Verschuren, A.-M. Lezine, H. Eggermont, C. Cocquyt, P. Francus, J.-P. Cazet, M. Fagot, B. Rumes, J. M. Russell, et al. (2008)
Science 320, 765-768
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Rapid ecosystem response to abrupt climate changes during the last glacial period in western Europe, 40-16 ka.
B. Wohlfarth, D. Veres, L. Ampel, T. Lacourse, M. Blaauw, F. Preusser, V. Andrieu-Ponel, D. Keravis, E. Lallier-Verges, S. Bjorck, et al. (2008)
Geology 36, 407-410
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
A biophysical perspective on dispersal and the geography of evolution in marine and terrestrial systems.
M. N Dawson and W. M Hamner (2008)
J R Soc Interface 5, 135-150
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)