Washington (PTI): Tropical species are likely to face the greatest peril due to the negative effects of climate change, researchers at the University of Washington have suggested.

The scientists found that while temperature changes will be much more extreme at high latitudes, tropical species have a far greater risk of extinction with warming of just a degree or two.

"Many tropical species can only tolerate a narrow range of temperatures because the climate they experience is pretty constant throughout the year," said Curtis Deutsch, co-author of the study that appears in the latest edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Arctic species, by contrast, might experience temperatures ranging from subzero to a comparatively balmy 60 degrees Fahrenheit. They typically live at temperatures well below their thermal limit, and most will continue to do so even with climate change, the ScienceDaily online reported on Tuesday.

According to the researchers, these effects could be more important for many tropical organisms, such as plants.

"The biodiversity of the planet is concentrated in tropical climates, where there is a tremendous variety of species," Deutsch stressed, adding what hurts the insects also hurts the ecosystem.

"Insects carry out essential functions for humans and ecosystems -- such as pollinating our crops and breaking down organic matter back into its nutrients so other organisms can use them. Insects are essential to the ecosystem," he said.

The researchers used global temperature records from 1950 through 2000, and added climate model projections from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for warming in the first years of the 21st century.