Birds and climate change Flashcards
why study bird behaviour in relation to climate change?
bird behaviour is very well understood
fast metabolism, highly susceptible to change
especially long distance migratory birds
EXAMPLE: little egrets have become abundance on the shores of south wales as population is moving north
what did chris thomas et al find in relation to bird movement patterns
analysed birds over a 20 year period, found that there has been a northward movement in many species of an average of 18.9 km.
on average how many days have spring events happened earlier between 1951 and 2001
2.8 days earlier
what is a major problem for birds in relation to survival?
MIGRATION - approx 5 million birds head to sahara from Europe every year - needs to be conserved in itself.
Long distance birds particularly vulnerable - the Red Knot for example, every aspect of life affected by climate change
what were the results of Hitch and liberg (2006) when studying bird migration in north america
studied 56 bird species, found northward shift in southern bird species of 2.35 km a year, similar to British results
what did Both and visser find when studying Pied flycatcher?
has advanced its laying date over the last 20 years, in response to the advance in spring events.
how exactly is the Red Knot affected by climate change?
Different populations migrate to different parts of the globe.
High arctic tundra - maybe all gone soon?
Long migration routes - weather conditions critical
Stopover site and wintering grounds (sea level rise?)
what did Piersma et al. find about the evolutionary strategy of migrating Knots?
all red knots shared a common ancestor only 7000 years ago. so migration strategies have evolved fairly quickly
what did gary laugham say about birds?
half of birds in USA and canada are at risk of climate change
Allens hummingbird - breeds along coast of California and Oregon, predictions of 68% reduction in breeding rang by 2050
2080 - 93% by 2080
may face competition from new predators, or other species
how many ecosystems may a migratory bird impact?
atleast, breeding, winter and stopovers
what did chris thomas et al find out when studying extinction risk?
took sample regions from 20% of the earths land surface, found that under mid range projections, 15 - 37% of species in study will be committed to extinction
what did Mcclure et al. 2012 find in relation to the Rusty Blackbird?
the range of the rusty blackbird has retreated north by 143km since 1960’s.
probability of local extinction higher in southern margin
direct result of climate change in past 40 years
what is the north Atlantic oscillation?
difference in atmospheric pressure between azores high and Icelandic low
controls alot of climate fluctuations in europe and north america,
driven by sea surface temperatures, affects
what happens in positive NAO?
increase in westerly winds over europe
what did the study by Adam Seward do?
used experiments to simulate birds receiving higher amounts of food than usual
