Terrestrial Ecosystems
Plants and animals are also in danger. According to IPCC’s Fourth Assessment Report in 2007, many terrestrial ecosystems around the globe will likely shrink and be pushed beyond their ability to adapt naturally to climate change. This will likely put 20-30% of plant and animal species at increasingly high risk of extinction in this century. The IPCC was also highly confident significant species extinctions could happen in Latin America.
For example, many tree species in the central Brazilian savannas (cerrados) could go extinct by 2050 if 2°C warming takes place. A 2004 study by scientists at the University of Leeds concluded that, by the end of the century, 43% of 69 tree species they studied could go extinct in Amazonia.
Tropical cloud forests in the mountains would be threatened by a 1-2°C rise in the next 50 years because the cloud-base would rise about 2 m/year. Some plants would become extinct locally because their mountains are not high enough anymore to support the habitat they need.
In the cloud forest of Monteverde in Costa Rica, plants and animals are already suffering. Fewer misty days have resulted in decreasing populations of amphibians and probably also birds and reptiles.
Migratory birds will also experience loss of habitat and shrinking populations. A 2005 review of 300 migrant bird species found that 84% face some threat from climate change, almost half because of lower water tables or drought, which can shrink breeding grounds or rest stops along migratory paths.
More frequent wildfires are also likely in much of South America; models project a 60% increase as temperatures warm as much as 3°C. This, too, will endanger living organisms.
