Biodiversity Implications and the Spread of Diseases

Abstract

Reduction in fruit tree diversity in both agricultural and forest (native or endemic) vegetation are likely to occur as a long-term consequence of global warming. Temperate fruit trees are likely to be more affected by climate change than trees in the subtropics and tropics; however, among temperate fruit trees, cultivars might be less or more adapted to changing climatic conditions. Many indigenous tropical and temperate fruits have still remained underexploited due to the lack of awareness of their potential, market demand and low and erratic bearing in many cases (Malik et al. 2010). These species have multipurpose uses as fruits, vegetables and also have therapeutic and medicinal properties. Genetic resources of fruits are facing a serious threat of extinction due to climate change, large-scale urbanization and developmental projects (Malik et al. 2010). Tropical fruit trees may respond to climate change through phenotypic plasticity, adaptive evolution, migration to suitable sites or extinction (Sthapit et al. 2012). Moreover, selection of appropriate rootstocks in various fruit crops, e.g., mango and guava to suit the changed climatic conditions could be one of the solutions to temperature change (Sthapit et al. 2012).