Mojave Desert birds crashed over the last century due to climate change

Bird diversity dropped by nearly half, primarily because of decreased rainfall from changing climate

Date:  August 7, 2018

Source:  University of California - Berkeley

Summary:

More than 100 years ago, biologists conducted a thorough survey of birds in the Mojave Desert. A recent resurvey shows that the species richness of the desert habitat has dropped by 43 percent over the past century, on average, at the sites revisited. The main environmental change correlated with bird decline was a decrease in rainfall caused by climate change, which suggests that temporary sources of water might help prevent further decline.

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