Potential effects of predicted climate change on the endemic South African Dwarf Chameleons, Bradypodion.

The article focuses on a study which investigated the effects of predicated climate change on the endemic South African dwarf chameleons, Bradypodion. To predict the suitable climatic habitat for most the chameleon species and for their phylogenetic clades, a niche-based modelling technique was employed. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) climate change scenarios were also used in the study. All models showed responses to predicted climate change but the degree and extent of these responses were individualistic. Most of them responded with a contraction in predicated climatic suitability while some registered an expansion or a shift.