Habitat preservation is a noble cause — so it’s really too bad that many conservation efforts may end up rendered moot by climate change. For example, restoration of Pacific Northwest salmon runs won’t do much good if warming makes streams unlivable; restoring fresh water flow in the Everglades will be somewhat pointless if sea-level rise swamps the wetlands. “We have over a 100-year investment nationally in a large suite of protected areas that may no longer protect the target ecosystems for which they were formed,” says Healy Hamilton of the California Academy of Sciences. So conservationists face multiple dilemmas: Should they stop focusing on restoration of current habitat? Should they let nature — in its human-amped state — take its course, and just accept that some flora and fauna won’t survive? Should they consider moving plants and animals into new areas? When does that become necessary, and what will be the repercussions? Says Hamilton, “Our whole strategy is going to have to shift.”
