Terrestrial Biodiversity Climate Change Impacts - Report Cards

The Living With Environmental Change Partnership (LWEC) has gathered together the latest evidence and observations to give a comprehensive overview of what is happening now in the UK’s countryside, the extent to which climate change is contributing to those changes, and what we might expect to happen in the future as the magnitude of climate change increases.

The Terrestrial Biodiversity Report Card shows that there is an increasing risk of new pests and diseases - whose caterpillars can also cause respiratory problems in humans – colonising and spreading in the UK. And it shows that some breeding birds are vulnerable as rising temperatures reduce the numbers of crane flies available for their chicks to feed on.

The Report Card identifies how biodiversity has recently responded to climate change and explores what might happen in the future, based on the current understanding of the way in which climate affects our plants and animals. It is essential that researchers continue to monitor and improve their understanding of how wildlife is affected by climate change as this will affect how we manage our land and conserve our biodiversity in the UK. There are implications here for both policy makers and land managers.