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Climate projections for ecologists

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-17, 23:08 authored by Harris, RM, Grose, MR, Lee, G, Nathaniel BindoffNathaniel Bindoff, Porfirio, L, Fox-Hughes, P
Climate projections are essential for studying ecological responses to climate change, and their use is now common in ecology. However, the lack of integration between ecology and climate science has restricted understanding of the available climate data and their appropriate use. We provide an overview of climate model outputs and issues that need to be considered when applying projections of future climate in ecological studies. We outline the strengths and weaknesses of available climate projections, the uncertainty associated with future projections at different spatial and temporal scales, the differences between available downscaling methods (dynamical, statistical downscaling, and simple scaling of global circulation model output), and the implications these have for ecological models. We describe some of the changes in the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), including the new representative concentration pathways. We highlight some of the challenges in using model projections in ecological studies and suggest how to effectively address them.

History

Publication title

Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change

Volume

5

Issue

5

Pagination

621-637

ISSN

1757-7799

Department/School

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies

Publisher

John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Place of publication

United Kingdom

Rights statement

Copyright 2014 John Wiley & Son s, Ltd.

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Climate change models

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