Researchers at Rice University have uncovered a critical link between rising temperatures and declines in a species’ population, shedding new light on how global warming threatens natural ecosystems.
Researchers at Rice University have uncovered a critical link between rising temperatures and declines in a species’ population, shedding new light on how global warming threatens natural ecosystems. The study, published in Ecology and led by Volker Rudolf, revealed that rising temperatures exacerbate competition within populations, ultimately leading to population crashes at higher temperatures. It offers one of the first clear experimental confirmations that rising temperatures alter the forces that control population dynamics in nature.
“Our research provides an essential missing piece in understanding the broader effects of warming on natural populations,” said Rudolf, professor of biosciences. “Even when individual organisms seem to thrive at higher temperatures, the population as a whole may still suffer as competition for resources intensifies.”
To reveal how temperature influences competition and population growth, the team focused on Daphnia pulex, a small zooplankton species that plays a vital role in freshwater food webs and water quality. By manipulating temperature and population density in a controlled laboratory setting, the researchers isolated the effects of rising temperatures on population dynamics. The results were both fascinating and troubling.
Read more at Rice University
Image: Volker Rudolf, professor of biosciences at Rice. (Credit: Rice University)
