Projected average national park
may have 29 percent more species in winter, 6 percent more in summer
Date: March 21, 2018
Source: PLOS
Summary:
U.S. National Parks could become
even more important for the conservation of bird species in the face of climate
change, according to a study published March 21, 2018 in the open-access
journal PLOS ONE by Joanna Wu from the National Audubon Society, US,
and colleagues.
The U.S. National Parks offer
strong protection for birds from many invasive and ecological threats, but
little is known about the impact of climate change on bird populations living
in the national parks.
Wu and colleagues related species
distribution models from the North American Breeding Bird Survey (summer) and
Audubon Christmas Bird Count (winter) observations to climate data from the
early 2000s and projected to 2041-2070. The researchers analyzed climate
suitability projections over time for 513 species across 274 national parks,
under a high and low greenhouse gas emission scenario. They then classified climate
suitability for birds as improving, worsening, stable, potential colonization,
and potential extirpation.
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