Butterfly effects

Recent studies illustrate the pervasive, and growing, impact of climate change on the distribution and abundance of even common species, as well as how conservation policymakers must recalibrate their strategies to account for these shifts.

Ecologists and conservation decision-makers have always had to deal with uncertainty. As human-driven global change accelerates, so too does the uncertainty regarding its effects. Climate change was a relatively marginal issue of concern in biological conservation in the late twentieth century and was not among the main factors considered in the original IUCN Red List assessments. Nowadays, it is ubiquitously relevant. Many current conservation policies tend to prioritize species that are more vulnerable to extinction, but the pervasive nature of some disturbances conceivably poses challenges even for supposedly less vulnerable species.