October 17, 2008
Weekly News UpdateClimate Change May Threaten Australia's Kangaroo Populations
"Kangaroos" and "Australia" go together like peanut butter and jelly. Recent research released this week indicates that kangaroos might not fare so well in the future due to climate change. Researchers at Australia's James Cook University have determined that an average increase in global temperatures of just 2 degree Celsius could have a devastating impact on their country's iconic population of kangaroos.
The kangaroo, an Australian icon, may not fare well if average global temperatures increase. (Photo credit: www.free-stockphotos.com)
Elian G. Ritchie and Elizabeth E. Bolitko, the study authors, relied on computer modeling and three years of field studies to form their conclusions. According to their model, the kangaroos' geographic range could shrink by 48 percent if average global temperatures increased by 2 degrees Celsius. If average global temperatures increase by 6 degrees Celsius, the kangaroos' range could shrink by 96 percent. Current climate-change models predict that the average temperatures in Northern Australia will increase between 0.4 and 2 degrees Celsius by 2030. By 2070, temperatures are expected to increase between 2 and 6 degrees Celsius.
Kangaroos themselves aren't as much as risk as their habitat is. Increased global temperatures could lead to a longer dry season and less-predictable rain events. This means that there could be less water available for the kangaroos. The scientists are most concerned about the future of antilopine wallaroos. This species of kangaroo lives in a wet, tropical climate. These kangaroos are most at risk because an increase in temperature of just 2 degrees Celsius could shrink their habitat range by 89 percent. An increase in temperature of 6 degrees Celsius could lead to the species' extinction, unless they can adapt in time to the newly arid grassland climate that would arise from such an increase in temperature.
The paper, entitled "Predicting Extinction: Investigating the Interface of Physiology, Ecology, and Climate Change" appears in the December issue of the journal Physiological and Biochemical Zoology.