Category Archives: climate change

Where Trout Is In Doubt

Posted on by
Reply
Girl, dad and rainbow trout

A paper published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences last week says that climate change is bad news for all the trout species in the northern Rocky Mountains, with an average 47 percent decline in total suitable habitat in 70 years. That, the paper says, is because it’s not just the temperature that is changing. How much water flows in rivers and when is changing, as will greater problems from invasive species, such as those that are already keeping native cut-throat trout out of its native range.

The paper’s lead author is with Trout Unlimited, with other authors hailing from the U.S. Forest Service, Colorado State University,  U.S. Geological Survey Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, and the University of Washington, Seattle.

Read the synopsis of the paper on Science Now, here.

Read a newspaper article from the Idaho Statesman, here. And this blog entry on the Idaho Statesman Web site.

And finally, read the paper itself (open access) from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, here.

Photo: Rainbow trout are expected to suffer the least from reductions in suitable habitat due to climate change. Photo by Carl Zitzman, courtesy US Fish and Wildlife Service

Climate change and bird feeders

Posted on by
Reply

Even when bird feeders are readily available, some species of birds head for warmer climes, says a paper in the latest issue of the Journal of Animal Ecology. The scientists, who are affiliated with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Project FeederWatch, studied 18 bird species that are common at bird feeders in the northeastern US and found that some species of birds did not stick around over the winter in spite of there being plenty to eat at bird feeders.

They also found that the birds that stayed north in winter were more likely to visit a bird feeder during a cold snap. Finally, the scientists found that for species that tolerate urban life, such as house sparrows, the abundant bird feeders in developed areas provide a winter refuge. Species that find urban life stressful, such as downy woodpeckers, are less likely to stay in developed areas during winter.

The scientists note that when predicting how climate change will influence a bird species, these other factors, such as tolerance to urbanization, need to be considered as well.

You can find the paper here, and a simple summary of the work on the Project FeederWatch blog.

Photo: I say it’s a nuthatch, although admittedly not the nuthatch species in this study. So don’t look too closely at the bird, just look at the bird feeder and the pretty green background, OK?

Climate change and bird feeders

Posted on by
Reply

Even when bird feeders are readily available, some species of birds head for warmer climes, says a paper in the latest issue of the Journal of Animal Ecology. The scientists, who are affiliated with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Project FeederWatch, studied 18 bird species that are common at bird feeders in the northeastern US and found that some species of birds did not stick around over the winter in spite of there being plenty to eat at bird feeders.

They also found that the birds that stayed north in winter were more likely to visit a bird feeder during a cold snap. Finally, the scientists found that for species that tolerate urban life, such as house sparrows, the abundant bird feeders in developed areas provide a winter refuge. Species that find urban life stressful, such as downy woodpeckers, are less likely to stay in developed areas during winter.

The scientists note that when predicting how climate change will influence a bird species, these other factors, such as tolerance to urbanization, need to be considered as well.

You can find the paper here, and a simple summary of the work on the Project FeederWatch blog.

Photo: I say it’s a nuthatch, although admittedly not the nuthatch species in this study. So don’t look too closely at the bird, just look at the bird feeder and the pretty green background, OK?