Local Effects of Climate Change Affect Fauna at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. Global climate change is expected to alter the type (e.g., rain versus snow) and amount of precipitation and the seasonality of large precipitation events, with unknown implications for upland systems. Predicted increases in temperature may increase physiological stress in trees, leading to greater susceptibility to infestation by insects and pathogens, and can also alter the elevation domain of species, leading to the migration of forest communities farther upslope (e.g., desert scrub would replace the lowest extent of grassland and shrubland, which would in turn replace lower areas of woodland and forest). This would result in major implications for the mixed-conifer ecosystems and animals that occur near the crest of the sky islands, as there are no higher habitats into which they can migrate. SODN upland monitoring was designed to to ascertain broad-scale changes in vegetation and dynamic soils properties in the context of changes in other ecological drivers, stressors, and processes, including climate. Invasive Exotic Plants.