Climate change threatens key biological processes

Writing / Irene Vega

Adjacent ecosystems, such as freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems, are interrelated through energy and nutrient flows, a process known as ecosystem coupling. Ontogenetic changes, including changes in habitat use, feeding habits, or ecological role throughout the life cycle of organisms, are diverse and play a crucial role in such coupling. However, the interaction between these ontogenetic changes and climate change, as well as their impact on energy flows between ecosystems, has been poorly studied.

The study, published in the prestigious journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution by Javier Sánchez Hernández, researcher at the Global Change Research Institute of the Rey Juan Carlos University (IICG-URJC) and professor at the Department of Biology and Geology, Physics and Inorganic Chemistry, highlights the important impacts that climate change can have on the biological processes that occur during the ontogenetic development of many animals (insects, amphibians and fish) and that can alter the coupling between adjacent ecosystems (aquatic-terrestrial and marine-fluvial). These changes can disrupt predator-prey interactions, competitive dynamics and resource availability, leading to cascading effects and affecting the long-term function and stability of ecosystems.

The research carried out within the framework of the Freshrestore project, funded by the State Research Agency, focuses on freshwater ecosystems. The author of the article, who specialises in studying the impacts of global change on the ecology of freshwater ecosystems, highlights that “the detailed study of the alterations in ontogenetic changes induced by climate change is very relevant to understanding the coupling and functioning of ecosystems”. The river and lake systems on which the study focuses are particularly impacted by climate change and other drivers of global change, so that “although there are examples of how species can respond to environmental changes through ontogenetic changes, future research should investigate the understanding of how these responses affect the coupling between adjacent ecosystems in order to have a better understanding of the consequences of global change”, says the researcher.