Considering the impact of climate change on human communities significantly alters the outcome of sp
Segan, D. B., Hole, D.G., Donatti, C.I., Zganjar, C., Martin, S., Butchart, S.H.M. and J.E.M. Watson (2015). Considering the impact of climate change on human communities significantly alters the outcome of species and site-based vulnerability assessments. Diversity and Distributions, 21: 1101 – 1111.
Human activities are largely responsible for the processes that threaten biodiversity, yet potential changes in human behaviour as a response to climate change are ignored in most species and site-based vulnerability assessments (VAs). Here we show that when the potential impact of climate change on humans is incorporated into well-established site and species VA methodologies, the outcomes become significantly different, using two African case studies. As most current VA methodologies fail to consider how people are likely to respond to climate change, there is a likelihood of a lot systematically biased assessments that may be leading to the implementation of inappropriate management actions.