ABSTRACT
A functioning ecosystem is made up of animals and plants, in a matrix of soil and surrounding abiotic conditions, interacting in myriad different ways. However, much of the published work on the potential impacts of climate change on ecosystems has dealt primarily with vegetative responses. While the amount of work on climate change and birds has recently increased, it is still relatively scant. Much of this research has focused on potential impacts on single organisms, or, at most, suites of organisms taken together. Little work has been done on how changes to organisms will, in turn, affect the ecosystems of which they are a part. A given ecosystem might continue to function if species were removed (or added). However, how well it would function would depend on the role of the lost species. While there may be redundancies in the roles of many species in maintaining ecosystem health, as more species are removed the probability increases that the system will break down.
