Climate change @ca

The future does not look bright for the Montseny brook newt, according to an article published recently in the journal Ecology and Evolution. Led by CREAF and the Spanish National Research Council’s Centre for Advanced Studies in Blanes (CEAB-CSIC), the study on which the article reports concludes that climate change and alterations to vegetation cover in Montseny Natural Park are a threat to the newt’s long-term survival.

This is reflected in data from bird and butterfly monitoring programmes that have been running in Catalonia for 17 and 25 years respectively. Drought affects bird and butterfly populations differently, with butterfly species from arid areas and bird species from humid areas undergoing the greatest declines.

Afforestation is a type of land use change project primarily designated for wood production, soil and water conservation, increasing carbon storage and mitigating climate change. This study shows that afforestation changes, moreover, soil pH, that is a key soil variable.