“Scientific evidence for warming of
the climate system is unequivocal”-
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change. The average surface
temperature of earth has risen about
1.62 degrees Fahrenheit (0.9 degrees
Celsius) since the late 19th century.
The present warming trends are
largely attributed to enhanced levels
of carbon dioxide and other human-
made emissions into the atmosphere.
The climate change is also evident
as warming of ocean, shrinking ice
sheets, glacial retreat, decreasing snow
cover, sea level rise, declining Arctic
sea ice, extreme weather events and
ocean acidification. These changes
are going to impact every living being
on this earth, including humans.
It is now well accepted that climate
change and biodiversity is closely
linked. According to the Millennium
Ecosystem Assessment, climate
change is likely to become one
of the most significant causes of
biodiversity loss by the end of the
century. Biodiversity is adapting to
changing climate through habitat
shift, changing life cycles, or the
development of new physical traits.
However, the rate at which the
climate is changing is of greater
concern, due to which we may lose
many species with low adaptive
capacity. Our future generations will
never be able to witness these species,
which will be seen only as pictures
in their books. Many of these animal
and plant species have great historical,cultural and evolutionary significance
too. Thus, it is imperative to protect
these species from extinction by
implementing suitable measures for
their conservation in a changing
climate scenario. The protection of
keystone species (playing crucial role
in the ecosystem functions), flagship
species (iconic species for a particular
habitat) and umbrella species
(protection is shared with many other
species sharing the large habitat) is
of utmost importance for the healthy
functioning of the entire ecosystem.Asian elephants (Elephas maximus)
are one such forest dwelling species,
which have been demonstrated
by different biologists as keystone
species, flagship species, umbrella