Climate Change may not be only threat to vulnerable species: Study

Climate change may not be the only threat to species of the planet in the present scenario, says a study conducted by researchers who studied the effects of deforestation on two species of Lemur.

The study by author Lyn Morelli was published in the journal Nature Climate Change.

The study suggests that species present on the globe are currently facing pressure from different fronts including overhunting, overharvesting, habitat degradation, fragmentation in addition to climate change.

For a better understanding of these threats, they modelled the effects of deforestation and climate change on two critically endangered ruffed lemur species.

"Ruffed lemurs and rainforests rely on each other. Remove one and the system collapses," said co-author of the study, Andrea Baden.

The researchers combined data from 88 years for reporting on how deforestation will affect ruffed lemurs. They conducted research at thousands of different sites on Madagascar Island.

They estimate that suitable rainforest habitat could be reduced by as much as 59 per cent from deforestation and as much as 75 per cent from climate change alone, and almost entirely lost from both before 2080.

"Maintaining and enhancing the integrity of protected areas, where rates of forest loss are lower, will be essential for ensuring the persistence of the diversity of the rapidly-diminishing Malagasy rainforests," said Morelli

"This research reminds us that there are other threats to biodiversity. We show that deforestation continues to be an imminent threat to conservation," added Morelli

Overall, "We challenge the conservation community to contemplate what should be done if nearly all of Madagascar's rainforest habitat were to be lost," the researchers wrote in the study.