Fingerprints of global warming on wild animals and plants

[From Root et al. (2003) Abstract
URL: "http://www.giss.nasa.gov/gpol/abstracts/2003/RootPrice.html"]

ABSTRACT
Over the past 100 years, the global average temperature has increased
by approximately 0.6?C and is projected to continue to rise at a rapid
rate. Although species have responded to climatic changes throughout
their evolutionary history, a primary concern for wild species and
their ecosystems is this rapid rate of change. We gathered information
on species and global warming from 143 studies for our
meta-analyses. These analyses reveal a consistent temperature-related
shift, or 'fingerprint', in species ranging from molluscs to mammals
and from grasses to trees. Indeed, more than 80% of the species that
show changes are shifting in the direction expected on the basis of
known physiological constraints of species. Consequently, the balance
of evidence from these studies strongly suggests that a significant
impact of global warming is already discernible in animal and plant
populations. The synergism of rapid temperature rise and other
stresses, in particular habitat destruction, could easily disrupt the
connectedness among species and lead to a reformulation of species
communities, reflecting differential changes in species, and to
numerous extirpations and possibly extinctions.