What is the rationale?
Climate change is predicted to have a range of implications for biodiversity, including, for example, changes in: phenology, species distribution (including arrival of non-native species and potentially the loss of species for which suitable climate conditions disappear), subsequent changes in community composition and interspecific interactions, in ecosystem function, and the loss of physical space due to sea level rise and increased storminess. Projected shifts in suitable climate space may force species to adjust their ranges if they are to survive and many species groups are already showing range margin movement. Many species may not be able to move rapidly enough to track their future climate space and this problem is further compounded by fragmentation.

In the context of commitments to halt the loss of biodiversity and meet other targets in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan, there is an urgent need to consider the impacts of climate change on species, in order to better understand their response and to guide the provision of potential adaptation measures.