The Effect of Climate Change on Future Habitats

The chosen journal article is entitled “Analyzing habitat characteristics and predicting present

and future suitable habitats of Sibynophis chinensis based on a climate change scenario”.

Sibynophis chinesis is a type of snake found in Asian countries like Hong Kong, Vietnam, and

China. In South Korea, however, it’s considered an endangered species that can only be found in

Jeju Island. The researchers of this study aimed to analyze the distribution range and habitat

characteristics of Sibynophis chinesis, and predict its present and future suitable habitats by

showing potential distribution areas (Koo, Park, & Oh, 2019).

The researchers chose 33 locations in Jeju Island that were identified from previous researches.

The environmental characteristics of each location were then analyzed through the use of land

cover and forest type maps. The SDM method was also used to predict the suitable habitat of a

species based on climate data (Koo, Park, & Oh, 2019). Results showed that Sibynophis

chinensis were found more often in the northern part of Jeju, and that they were more present in

farms and forests than grasslands. Furthemore, it was found that future climate change could

expand its distribution to different parts of the island.

It’s interesting to note that perhaps the reason behind the concentration of the species in a certain

part of the island lies in the destruction of the forests within the area. It would be interesting to

investigate on the possible reasons behind the decrease of a certain species, especially those with

habitats in Point Dume. Moreover, studying the effects of the actions of humans and climate

change on plant and animal populations could be a good topic to work on, while incorporating

the analysis of different locations into the study could explain why certain areas have a larger

population of a certain species.

References:

Koo, K., Park, D., & Oh, H. (2019). Analyzing habitat characteristics and predicting present and

future suitable habitats of Sibynophis chinensis based on a climate change scenario. Journal of

Asia-Pacific Biodiversity, 1-6.