Summary of "Climate Change, Increasing Temperatures Alter Bird Migration Patterns"
By gathering information gathered by ebird, a citezens program database containing 10 years of information gathered by amature bird watchers, assistant professor of biology Allen Hurlbert, Ph.D., and his team in the UNC College of Arts and Sciences. Hurlbert thinks that the changing climate might affect the migration of birds, and birds themselves, negatively. "Timing of bird migration is something critical for the overall health of bird species," Hurlbert said. "They have to time it right so they can balance arriving on breeding grounds after there's no longer a risk of severe winter conditions. If they get it wrong, they may die or may not produce as many young. A change in migration could begin to contribute to population decline, putting many species at risk for extinction." Hurlbert hopes that this information would help raise awareness of the negative affects that climate change has on birds. The information could also help scientists figure out what parts of the United States will have the greatest migration shifts, and which species of birds will be less likely to adapt. Hurlbert's team decided to track species that occur on the Eastern United States. They would record the exact dates and temperatures that bird watchers first saw the type of bird. Then they compared it to the last few years. Hurlbert's team deducted that, on average, each species arrived 0.8 days earlier per degrees Celsius of temperature increase. Some species arrived 3-6 days early per rising degree Celcius. Hurlbert thinks that the speed of which the bird migrates tells how adaptable to temperature changes they are. Slow migrators are more adaptable to temperature change. Hurlbert sais that because they move slower they can stop or rest if the temperature is to cold, species of birds that migrate quickly tend to be less adaptable to temperature change. There migration is knind of a run from tempature change. While the slow migratory bird are also running from the temperature change they go slower because they dont have a problem with some tamperature change. Still the birds that migrate slowly are still in danger of climate change.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120223142642.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120223142642.htm