Researchers working to identify animals that will be most impacted by climate change

Hundreds of American mammals won’t be able to adjust to climate change, according to projections from Josh Lawler, an associate professor in the School of Forest Resources at the University of Washington.

Lawler presented his research on how animals respond to large-scale changes, such as global warning, at the Utah State University’s Ecology Center Seminar Series in the Agricultural Sciences building on Wednesday evening. His presentation addressed concerns about species movement and population fluctuations affected by temperature and precipitation changes.

“Much of what I've done has been modeling and much of it has been forecasting potential future changes,” Lawler said. "Given the projected rate of climate change on average across North and South America, in any given place roughly eight percent of mammals won't be able to move fast enough to keep up with climate change.”

Lawler isn't the only researcher concerned about the changing climate — and mammals aren’t the only class of animals that will be impacted.

Thomas Edwards, a research ecologist and professor of wildland resources at USU, said global warming will impact many species.

“We are seeing effects such as lack of snowfall and less water in the streams which means streams are getting hotter,” Edwards said. “Trout have to live in cold, cool water. The water warms up and you lose the trout.”

According to Edwards, animals will eventually have to move, but some will be incapable of doing so. When they are not able to relocate, ecologists like Lawler and Edwards will seek to help in the migration process to ensure that the animals do not go extinct.

Although his research will help to protect animals as the climate continues to change, "it will all be a lot easier to deal with if we can slow down the climate change,” he said. “The Earth definitely goes through cycles but the climate change that we are seeing now, a large part of it is human caused.”

The department head of Environment and Society, Mark Brunson, was happy to see Lawler, who is a USU graduate, come back and present his research.

“He has been a leader in bringing together what we know about the habitats and animals and projected changes that climate predictions create, and mapping them in order to understand them much better, in order to understand what it means for animals,” Brunson said.

Lawler was one of eight researchers invited to present their research as part of the seminar series.

Jared Dangerfield, Amanda Grover, Lindsey Hall, Heather Shulsen and Rebecca Wheatley contributed to this report.