Emily Koot

Citation

Thesis Title
The Ecology and Evolution of New Zealand’s Endemic Alpine Grasshoppers

Read article at Massey Research Online:

Climate change has stimulated interest in how species distributions are influenced by climate and how they might respond to global warming. To date, little research has directly investigated the impact of climate change on New Zealand's ecosystems. Miss Koot used genetic and geographic data to explore how climate change affects the diversity and distribution of New Zealand's alpine grasshoppers. She found that climatic warming since the Last Glacial Maximum has reduced suitable habitat of these species and isolated populations within some species. Suitable habitat was predicted to reduce further over the next 50+ years. Consequently, all grasshopper species studied will be at risk of losing genetic diversity, and a number of species will be at risk of going extinct if greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced in the near future. Miss Koot's research provides valuable information about how inhabitants of the alpine zone may be affected by future climate change.

Supervisors
Professor Steven Trewick
Professor Mary Morgan-Richards