{"id":2989672,"date":"2023-10-20T10:59:24","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:59:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.futurity.org\/?p=2989672"},"modified":"2023-10-20T10:59:24","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:59:24","slug":"bird-reproduction-extreme-temperatures-farmland-2989672","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.futurity.org\/bird-reproduction-extreme-temperatures-farmland-2989672\/","title":{"rendered":"Heat waves hamper bird reproduction near farmland"},"content":{"rendered":"
Extreme high temperatures significantly diminish bird reproduction success in agricultural landscapes, a new study shows.<\/p>\n
Bird populations are in rapid decline across North America. While climate change is just one of the many factors influencing North American birds, its effects are significant and can interact with other stressors, such as habitat loss.<\/p>\n
Researchers found that the effects of extreme temperatures on avian reproduction<\/a> can vary depending on the type of environment that birds call home. The findings shed light on how climate change can combine with habitat loss to affect bird reproduction across the United States.<\/p>\n As reported in 糖心视频<\/a><\/em>, birds nesting near farmland were half as likely to have at least one fledgling successfully leave the nest when temperatures spiked. However, forests seemed to provide a protective buffer against high temperatures, offering shaded areas that helped increase nesting success.<\/p>\n “The effects of heat are more intense for birds nesting in agriculture than birds nesting in forest, which means that canopy cover probably constitutes an important climate refuge for birds that can thrive in various habitats,” says Katherine Lauck, a PhD candidate in ecology at the University of California, Davis and co-lead author.<\/p>\n When the researchers looked at how heat waves affected nesting success in urban areas, the researchers found less of a negative impact than in agriculture, probably because nests were often in city parks and residential areas that can have high tree cover.<\/p>\n “This suggests that places like backyards and parks may provide important bird habitat that is somewhat more buffered from climate extremes in the future,” Lauck says.<\/p>\n Daniel Karp, associate professor in the wildlife, fish and conservation biology department, launched this project with his students to keep the lab in contact during the COVID-19 pandemic. They analyzed data from NestWatch<\/a>, an initiative created by Cornell University’s Laboratory of Ornithology, where people from across the country monitor bird nests near them and use an app to record information on types of bird species, nest locations, number of eggs laid, baby bird activity, and more.<\/p>\n “What is really unique about this dataset is that we could look at bird reproduction at a very broad spatial scale,” Karp says. “With these data, we could begin to unravel how climate change<\/a> and habitat loss are together affecting many North American birds.”<\/p>\n The researchers analyzed more than 152,000 nesting records featuring nearly 60 bird species that were nesting in farms, forests, grasslands, and developed areas across the country during the span of 23 years (1998-2020).<\/p>\nFarms, forests, and grasslands<\/h3>\n