Migratory
behavior and winter geography drive differential range shifts of eastern birds
in response to recent climate change
Date: May
26, 2020
Source:
S.J. & Jessie E. Quinney College of Natural Resources, Utah State
University
Spring is
in full swing. Trees are leafing out, flowers are blooming, bees are buzzing,
and birds are singing. But a recent study published in Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences found that those birds in your backyard may
be changing right along with the climate.
Clark
Rushing, Assistant Professor in the Department of Wildland Resources and
Ecology Center, Quinney College of Natural Resources at Utah State University,
and colleagues at the U.S. Geological Survey wanted to know how climate change
has already affected where birds breed. They used data from the Breeding Bird
Survey -- one of the oldest and longest citizen-science programs in the world
-- to conduct their research. "Thousands of devoted volunteers,
cooperators, and a joint U.S.-Canadian wildlife management team have
contributed to the success of the surveys for the last 54 years," said
Andy Royle, a USGS senior scientists and co-author of the study. "The
Breeding Bird Survey is fundamental to our understanding and management of wild
bird populations in North America."
The
research team combined Breeding Bird Survey data with powerful computer models
to discover changes in breeding range for 32 species of birds found in eastern
North America. What they found is surprising:
Some
birds' ranges are expanding. Birds that both breed and winter in North America
are extending their ranges north to take advantage of new, warm places to
breed. These birds are also maintaining their southern ranges. These results
bring hope that some bird populations, such as Carolina wrens and red-bellied
woodpeckers, may be resilient to future climate change.
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