Rapid Climate Change Challenges the Survival and Adaptation of Species

Researchers from the University of Helsinki who examined the Arctic Siberian primrose, a perennial herb native to the Arctic Ocean and Bothnian Bay regions, say the rate at which climate change is impacting our environment is too fast to allow species time to adapt through evolution.

Addressing climate change is pivotal to the survival of plant species like the Siberian primrose, which “cannot migrate to more favourable conditions due to geographic constraints, leaving adaptation in its current habitat as its only survival option,” says Adjunct Professor Marko Hyvärinen from the Finnish Museum of Natural History.

Notably, the species may only be able to adapt if planetary warming can be limited in accordance with the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement, which aims to keep a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and limit temperature increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Without that, researchers say, the Siberian primrose—to say nothing of other species—will not survive.

"Our research suggests that the evolutionary potential of wild species is seriously limited in the face of rapidly advancing climate change. This means that the future of many species is at stake, unless climate change is effectively curbed," says Postdoctoral Researcher Anniina Mattila from the Finnish Museum of Natural History.

The researchers suggest translocation may help species adapt to our rapidly changing planet. Moreover, an enhanced understanding of the adaptive capacity of species can guide targeted conservation efforts and encourage the development of methods to safeguard species at risk. However, the researchers stress that the most crucial action is to work toward limiting climate change, enabling species to adapt naturally.

The study was published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.