No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

The distribution of biodiversity on the planet faces dramatic spatial reorganization from climate change. This is especially true in the marine realm, where species often live near their physiological limits. Thus, effective conservation agendas for marine biodiversity must be predicated upon robust multi-scenario projections of climate-driven changes in oceanographic conditions. However, much of the theory and empirical work on distributional changes in marine biodiversity comes from shallow-water ecosystems. The deep seafloor (> 200 m) has received comparably little attention despite mounting evidence of the accrual of climatic changes within this largest habitable area of the planet. Here, I present a number of case studies predicting the effects of climate change on the distributions of cold-water coral (CWC) reef habitats and their associated fauna, using both modelling approaches and empirical data collected on multiple oceanographic cruises to the CWC reefs of the southeast USA (SEUS) in 2018-2019. These reefs are persistent features of continental margins (~200 – 4000 m ) around the globe, important biodiversity and biogeochemical cycling hotspots, and sentinels of marine climate change. In Chapter 2, I fit global habitat suitability models (HSMs) using publicly available oceanographic and biogeographic products to predict the occurrence of reef-forming CWC species and the reef habitat they form, testing for taxonomic and regional differences in their ecological niches. I then use an ensemble of global climate model outputs as inputs for ensemble HSMs projecting the distributions of these same taxa to 2100 in a range of climate scenarios, and test for differences in distribution changes across species and bioregions. In Chapter 3, I use higher-resolution regional and global climate products and data from multiple oceanographic cruises to the SEUS to build HSMs for this region; this data collation revealed the largest known, essentially continuous CWC reef province on the planet. The models located pivotal climate refugia primarily at deeper (> 600 m) eastward reef sites – notably including those outside of areas designated to protect coral from bottom-contact fisheries – that may remain suitable to 2100 while shallower sites are projected to experience catastrophic declines. In Chapters 4 and 5 I present community ecological work based from research expeditions to CWC reefs of the SEUS described in Chapter 2. In Chapter 4, I use video imagery and in situ collections of intact seafloor communities to test how the abundance, taxonomic and functional diversity, and community structure of invertebrate communities in hard-substratum ecosystems along the SEUS margin, including CWC reefs and submarine canyons change along biocomplexity (e.g. the percentage of live coral cover), bathymetric, and oceanographic gradients. In Chapter 5, I synthesize invertebrate and fish data from SEUS CWC reefs to fit Bayesian community-level joint HSMs predicting the occurrence and abundance of these faunas as functions of their ecological traits. These models reveal strong distinctions fish and invertebrates in their climate and habitat preferences at CWC reefs, suggesting opposing responses to climate change. Overall, Chapters 3-5 expand upon baseline descriptions of reef habitats and coral-associated fauna in the SEUS, testing for mechanisms driving observed ecological patterns across large environmental gradients. Together, this volume improves our understanding of the ecological drivers of vulnerable marine ecosystem occurrence and biodiversity, augmenting conservation efforts for these critical components of the global ocean. / Biology

Evidence continues to mount regarding the impact of climate change on the ecosystems of the world with increasingly dire predictions about the need for global action to slow warming and its downstream effects. Human beings are not immune to changes in their environment. Growing research demonstrates the impact of climate change on cardiovascular, pulmonary, psychiatric, neurologic and renal diseases, as well as its disruption of overall health through malnutrition, infectious disease, and pregnancy and developmental complications. Stress is known to precipitate, worsen, and maintain chronic disease. Social and community factors are known to impact individual and community mental health. The psychological stress of loss of goods, identity, and social support through weather events brought about by climate change has the potential to worsen the health and wellbeing of populations. Climate change does not impact communities equally. Populations historically and currently disadvantaged by inequitable policies may live in environments more at-risk to natural disaster, and have access to fewer financial, governmental, social, and healthcare resources to respond to climate events. Limitation of individual and community ability to respond to stressors reduces resilience and perpetuates chronic stress. The aim of this thesis is to examine the intersection of mental health and climate change with a particular focus on how social injustice has shaped the capability of populations, particularly those in urban settings, to respond to environmental changes with Philadelphia as a particular example. / Urban Bioethics

There are two primary purposes of this study. One is theory development and the other is empirical. The first aim will be conducted by proposing a framework for the integrated approach between Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation. The empirical purpose will be conducted by applying the framework on Nepal’s National Adaptation Plan (NAP). Numerous scholars and researchers have conducted research regarding why an integrated approach between DRR and CCA is favourable for the development in reducing vulnerability in areas and countries which are heavily affected by climate-related disasters. Although multiple convergences, there still exist certain obstacles and differences across the approaches. These include separation in institutions and actors, financial mechanisms, the gap between typologies and terminology and spatial scale differences. The main findings that can be gathered from this study is that Nepal's NAP includes many objectives and aspects which is pointing towards that the Integrated Approach is becoming more evident in today's DRR and CCA efforts. The areas which lacked the most in the NAP was the centralisation of poverty reduction and a lack of details regarding how and by whom many of the objectives and activities were planned to be implemented.

No description available.

Coffea arabica is a species with far-reaching impacts on the global economy. Nevertheless, climate-related challenges threaten the coffee industry at its source: its growing regions. The coffee industry is a significant economic driver in Guatemala, but farmers are increasingly reporting losses in crop yield and arable land due to climate-related challenges. Ecological niche modeling (ENM) can be employed to make predictions about the current and future suitability of regions for a species by identifying significant biotic or abiotic indicators. An ENM was used to project suitable land into the future using climate change projection models known as representative concentration pathways (RCPs), for the coffee plant and a number of other species. Due to the potential of shade trees to lessen heat stress on coffee plants, common shade trees for the region were modeled. Additionally, a fungus species responsible for detrimental coffee leaf rust was modeled. Results of these models indicated potential for substantial climate-related habitat losses for the coffee plant in the coming decades. Examination of model predictions allow for greater understanding of the climate-related variables affecting the ecology of the coffee plant, and the potential risks to the industry, in a changing climate. Additionally, ENM models for coffee rust and shade trees can help Guatemalan farmers make informed decisions about farm management.

No description available.

No description available.