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El Nino is a naturally occurring cycle that plants and animals have adapted to, with some species even benefiting from it.<\/span><\/p>\n The concern, experts say, is what happens when weather conditions become too extreme or unpredictable.<\/p>\n While many insects are “fairly robust”, the stronger and more frequent El Ninos may be something that populations aren’t adapted to and cannot recover from, Assoc Prof Slade said.<\/span><\/p>\n For bird, Dr Movin described an “envelope of adaptability” within which species can function.<\/span><\/p>\n More extreme conditions could push them “beyond that capacity”, he said. The difficulty is that the damage may not always be immediately apparent.<\/span><\/p>\n “We really can\u2019t tell until we have a few (El Ninos), and we start seeing birds take hits,” he said.<\/span><\/p>\n Without the certainty of guaranteed food sources, animals that are not adapted to live alongside people are more vulnerable to unpredictable El Nino events that could disrupt cycles that plants and animals rely on, resulting in ripple effects in Singapore\u2019s ecosystem and food web.<\/span><\/p>\n Heat and haze may affect insect life cycles and their ability to reproduce, causing an “extinction lag” over time as populations struggle to adapt, said Assoc Prof Slade.<\/span><\/p>\n If insect populations crash, \u201cthis has knock-on effects for birds, for bats, for other mammals and things that feed on the insects as well\u201d, she added.<\/span><\/p>\n “Usually, breeding success is very related to food availability,” said Dr Movin, adding that fewer insects could directly result in bird deaths or failed breeding attempts.<\/span><\/p>\n Assoc Prof Slade warned that resulting biodiversity loss could be “deceptive” as such a decline may not mean fewer individuals or a loss of ecosystem function.<\/span><\/p>\n Likening a robust ecosystem to a diversified fund, Assoc Prof Slade said that the vulnerability of having poorer biodiversity is often called the “portfolio effect”.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “There will always be species that survive \u2026 and new communities will form, but what communities those are and whether they’re useful communities for us is another thing,” she said.<\/span><\/p>\nNO HUMAN FOOD, NO GUARANTEES<\/span><\/h2>\n