The End of Endemics?

Endemic species are those only found, in the 'wild', in a single location (often a remote island or in a mountainous region). They include animals, such as the Himalayan Snow leopard, the Madagascan Red-ruffed lemur and the Galapagos Giant tortoise (illustrated above). A paper in 'Biological Conservation' analyses what will happen to such species in 270 'hotspots' (in terms of their biodiversity rather than their ambient temperature), if the planet heats to 3 degrees C above pre-Industrial levels in 2100 (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/apr/09/lemurs-and-giant-tortoises-among-species-at-risk-if-global-warming-reaches-3c). The authors of the paper find 50% of endemic species will become extinct (this includes plants, as well as animals). The figure is 84% for endemic mountain species (they have nowhere to go, once they reach the mountain top). The situation is even worse for marine ecosystems, as these are even more sensitive to temperature change. There would be many fewer extinctions of endemic species, if the temperature rise could be limited to 1.5 degrees C above pre-Industrial levels. Unfortunately, however, at the current rate, we are on schedule for the full 3 degrees C rise by 2100. I think we need to try a bit harder!