Issues of global warming and its potential affects on wildlife are now front and center. At the Avian Science Center we are interested in both understanding the effects of global warming on North American birds and sharing this information. Although the ASC is not presently engaged in direct climate change research, we believe our continued bird monitoring can help elucidate changes in bird phenology and ecology. And of course we continue to engage in personal efforts to reduce our own carbon footprints. Please do the same.... the birds depend on us (see below ).
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Those concerned about global warming (which needs to be all of us), birds, and biodiversity in general, can learn more by visiting the web sites of the National Audubon Society, the American Bird Conservancy and the National Wildlife Federation - all three groups highlight emerging science and provide steps you can take to combat global warming.
Together the latter 2 groups have partnered to produce the publication The Birdwatchers' Guide to Global Warming, a state-by-state guide to the effects of climate change on America's birds. Check out your state of interest!
NEW as of September 2007, PARTNERS IN FLIGHT has developed a Global Climate Change and Birds web page. Here you can find an up-to-date bibliography (with many links to the original article).
Of particular concern in this region is the potential for warmer temperatures to increase drought in the prairie pothole region of eastern Montana and the Dakotas. Parts of this region, rich in breeding ponds for a plethora of ducks and other migratory birds, are predicted to hold water for shorter periods during the year or even dry up completely as temperatures increase. Dave Naugle, a University of Montana faculty, and his colleagues recently published a paper highlighting potential changes in such wetland areas in a Bioscience paper available HERE. Indeed, earlier snow runoff may reduce the flow in many riparian systems, which may in turn alter the vegetation characteristics of these crucial bird habitats.
Another significant concern is that as birds move either northward or up in elevation to locate the environmental characteristics within which they evolved, those preferred habitats will not be available. If you are already living very near the top of a mountain, where do you go? Additionally, as birds change their movement patterns to accommodate higher temperatures, their food sources may not be available. This decoupling of birds and their food may present serious problems.
Great ideas to reduce global warming pollution:
Be part of the Solution from the National Audubon Society
Global Warming Solutions from the Union of Concerned Scientists
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