South East England Biodiversity Forum

Climate Change

'Biodiversity must adapt to climate change. For many habitats and species, this will be difficult because the landscape across Europe is fragmented and past decisions limit the opportunities for adaptation.' BRANCH (Biodiversity Requires Adaptation in Northwest Europe under a CHanging climate)

Wildlife could respond to climate change in a variety of ways:

  • Changes in the timings of seasonal events, leading to loss of synchrony between species and the availability of food, and other resources upon which they depend
  • Shifts in suitable climate conditions for individual species leading to change in abundance and range
  • Changes in the habitats that species occupy
  • Loss of habitats as conditions change (for example the drying up of wetlands), with the loss of the species in them.
  • Changes to the composition of plant and animal communities

In the South East ...

The climate of the South East is changing. Hotter, drier summers and milder, wetter winters, and rising sea levels will affect the natural systems that support species and habitats. It is likely, however, that the expected increase in frequency of extreme weather events will have a greater impact on biodiversity than general changes in average conditions. It is also possible that in the short term (next 20 years) the human response to climate change will have a greater effect on biodiversity than the climate change itself.

The fragmented nature of habitats and landscapes across the region is likely to prevent many species from moving as climate conditions change.

Spatial planning and land management must help build resilience to these changes by:

  • Ensuring the existing wildlife is protected and conserved
  • Decreasing the existing pressures on the region's wildlife from other factors, such as pollution or lack of appropriate management
  • Develop ecologically robust and varied landscapes
  • Reducing fragmentation and establishing ecological networks, increasing the overall area and improving connectivity between habitats
  • Allowing for the movement of species and habitats
  • Collating robust evidence about habitats and species in the South East that are particularly vulnerable to climate change to inform decision making and habitat management planning
  • Ensuring development does not remove options for adaptation or exacerbate effects of climate change

Ways in which this can be achieved include:

  • Coastal planning should help ensure space is reserved for habitats to move as sea levels rise
  • In urban areas opportunities to develop ‘green corridors' or ‘bridges' should be identified to address barriers to species migration and link fragmented habitats
  • In other terrestrial habitats, such as heathlands, increasing patch size and maintaining and improving links between these will help to enable more effective management and recovery from events such as fires
  • In wetland areas, ensuring that abstraction for human use does not result in shortages of water
  • Accept that traditional species in an area may decline and new species may move in. Provide connected habitats for the benefit of both expanding and declining species.
  • Identify areas where species may arrive and leave a plan area and create ‘adaptation zones' to facilitate species movement.
  • Ensure decisions on adaptation actions are made across national and regional borders.
  • Ensure policy is flexible, integrated and long-term. Monitor the effectiveness of adaptation strategies and refine if necessary.

For more information please see:

Climate South East website - a not for profit, regional partnership of organisations from across the public, private and voluntary sectors committed to taking action to tackle the causes and effects of climate change in South East England.

BRANCH (Biodiversity Requires Adaptation in Northwest Europe under a CHanging climate) website

'Conserving biodiversity in a changing climate: guidance on building capacity to adapt' Hopkins et al (2007) published by Defra.