English Abstract The potential effects of Global Climate Change on
biodiversity at the level of genomic variation, species, and ecosystems are
very complex and poorly understood. This programming study briefly
summarises current knowledge, and analyses which contributions the
systematic biology and ecology community in the Netherlands can make to
elucidate some of the problems involved. It is recommended to focus on the
following questions: 1) What are the effects of current and potential
climate change on spatial and temporal distribution patterns and on the
existence of species and ecosystems? and 2) Which biological mechanisms are
involved in the responses of species and ecosystems to climate change? Two
complementary approaches are advocated: a) analyses of long-term data sets
comprising biogeographical and climate observations and measurements, and b)
experimental work on a number of species or functional groups aimed at the
investigation of their physiological or phenological responses to climate
change, and their migration or dispersal potential. The study should
include well-known plant, animal and/or micro-organism species and/or
functional groups, from a temperate, terrestrial ecosystem (possibly
including transition zones between land and water) in the Netherlands or
adjacent parts of NW Europe. The programme should generate input data for
predictive models based on climate change scenarios. The importance of an
integrated and interdisciplinary research programme, complementary to other
national and international research initiatives is
stressed.
