Antelope join threatened list as Africa hots up

29 April 2016 - 18:22 By TMG Digital

Rhino‚ big cats and elephants might be in danger‚ but Africa's antelope are forever‚ right? Wrong‚ according to British researchers.They say climate change will cause a disproportionate decline in African antelopes with the smallest geographic ranges."The study clearly shows that several antelope species are in need of urgent conservation action to avoid extinction‚" says Jakob Bro-Jørgensen of the University of Liverpool‚ writing in the journal Current Biology.He said small ranges implied that species thrived under a very narrow range of conditions. Even small changes in climate could push them out of their comfort zones.Species found only in very restricted areas "are usually more demanding in the combination of temperature and rainfall conditions they require‚ and therefore suitable areas are more likely to disappear when temperature and rainfall do not change together"‚ said Bro-Jørgensen.African antelopes presented an ideal opportunity to study the relationship between species' range sizes and the effects of climate change because of their diversity. Also‚ antelopes are an increasing conservation concern‚ with one-third of the world's 87 species now listed as threatened.The researchers began by modelling the ranges of 72 antelope species. They then generated forecasts of where those species might live in future based on multiple models of climate change by the year 2080.For 82% of antelope species‚ the forecasts show a decline in suitable habitat by 2080 due to climate change. About one-quarter are likely to see their range size drop in half.According to the researchers‚ antelopes that prefer cooler and drier climates are likely to be the hardest hit."Our study shows that climate change is likely to hit wildlife even harder than we thought because the species already threatened stand to lose a higher proportion of their range‚" Bro-Jørgensen said."If we switch to more conservation-friendly land use‚ the threatened species with small ranges stand to benefit the most‚ having the greatest potential to expand their ranges. A major priority is to target the increasing fragmentation of wilderness areas‚ which prevents wildlife from tracking shifts in their environment."..

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