There is a new snake species in the UK. Does climate change mean you are allowed to stay?

All animals live or are looking for a set of climatic conditions that they think can be tolerated. This “climate envelope” partially determines where the animals are, but the ongoing presence of many species currently depends on the consequences of human-driven climate change.

Rising temperatures have moved the climate niche of many available species to previously overcool areas. Reduces the habitat downhill or near the equator while the range moves in the polar direction or shifts to a higher elevation.

Flying and marine animals are relatively free to follow these changing niches. Birds and butterflies are two examples. Excited by enthusiasts and scientists in general, given that it is a species’ natural effort to make the most of a difficult situation, which is generally the excitement of enthusiasts and scientists. You will encounter.

However, many grounded species, including reptiles and mammals, cannot be dispersed through habitats divided by roads and other human obstacles or natural barriers such as channels. This limits the ability to find the right conditions and makes them vulnerable to extinction.

Can’t you go anywhere?

This is the dilemma for protectionists like us.

We usually focus on preserving species within modern terms, and traditionally see the species of their species as a problem. However, maintaining the status quo is becoming increasingly unacceptable in the face of unchecked climate change.

Should we consider preserving migrated or migrated species outside the native range that existed before the industrial society and its greenhouse effect? Should I consider intentionally moving to protect them? Established just outside the native range, introduced species have slightly cooler climates and offer a glimpse of possible outcomes.

Our new study in North Wales focused on one such immigrant. The Asclapian snake (Zamenis Longissimus) are primarily rodent-eating, involuntary reptiles endemic to Central and Southern Europe, approaching the Channel Coast in northern France.

Two accidental introductions in Colwin Bay, North Wales allowed the species to flourish in the UK along London’s Regent Canal. It’s not actually novel for our coast, but it disappeared during the previous ice age and has probably missed it for about 300,000 years.

The British population that was introduced appears to be thriving, but recent research into this snake in the southern part of its range may be partly due to climate change.

Good neighbor

Given its status as a non-native species, we wanted to know how the Esclapian snake survived in chilly North Wales, even north of where it currently occurs. To do this, we embedded radio transmitters in 21 snakes and followed two summers around the countryside.

Our results surprised us. The snake had a trump card that seemed to help get through the cooler climate. They frequently entered the building, but frequently warm shelters – prepared to digest food and shed skin. They also used garden compost boxes at shelter and raised eggs.

Even more surprising, most residents didn’t mind snakes. In fact, many people didn’t think of having snakes as their neighbors. Snakes appear to coexist with normal suburban wildlife, with no indication that their presence is affecting native species.

Is it possible that successfully established harmless immigration, like today, will be banned and eradicated? Or should they be valued and preserved in the face of current and imminent climate change?

Conserving and protecting the greatest diversity of species and ecosystems is central to the conservation agenda. However, the rapid pace of change forced on our planet requires rethinking what is practical and desirable to achieve.

Conservation within border silos is an increasingly outdated way to maintain global ecosystem diversity. Instead, conservators may need to accept that rapidly changing environments require a change in the range of species. And perhaps even helping those species not move on their own.

Unlicensed “guerilla” releases are clearly unacceptable due to biosecurity risks (e.g. the possibility of introducing catastrophic diseases such as BSAL bacteria that kill amphibians) and other unexpected consequences. Even legitimate reintroductions often fail because there are too few individual specimens and too few predation from invasive species.

Esculapian snakes are considered by the government to be added to the list of heterogeneous species of concerns that are the basis for eradication. If such species become extinct in part of the natural range, it is tragic if innovative populations north of pre-industrial distribution are treated as undesirable aliens that must be excluded.

Instead, I argue that this harmless species should be a new form of thinking in conservation biology. This embraces the imminent reality of further climate change and the reality of distributing narrow boundaries and compliance with pre-industrial distribution.

This article will be republished from the conversation under a Creative Commons license. Please read the original article.