Conservation areas not safe from climate change: Aussie scientists

The well-managed conservation reserves may safeguard flora and fauna from many threats, but not from climate change, Australian scientists warned on Tuesday.

Scientists from James Cook University in northern Queensland have discovered many tropical, mountaintop plants won't survive global warming, even under the best-case climate scenario.

The Wet Tropics World Heritage Area in northern Australia is predicted to almost completely lose its ability to host the endemic plants that grow 1,000 meters or more above sea level, according to the study released on Tuesday.

Lead researcher Dr. Craig Costion said the findings have important implications on rare and ancient species of plants.

"They already live on mountain tops, they have no other place to go," Costion said. The scientists looked at 19 plant species in the tropics found at least 1,000 meters above sea level, modeling three climate change scenarios in the region from conservative to extreme.

The studies co-author, Prof. Darren Crayn, said the findings show well-managed conservation reserves may be safe from many threats, but not from climate change with the heritage area seriously exposed.

"The tropics contain most of the world's biodiversity, and tropical mountains are particularly rich in unique and rare species," Crayn said.

"Managing for global threats such as climate change requires much better information, a redoubling of research efforts on these poorly understood landscapes would pay great dividends."

Crayn said without a suitable environment, the survival of the threatened species may depend on them being grown in botanical gardens under controlled conditions. Endi