Birds and wind farms/climate change

General birdwatching discussion, help with bird identification, and all other things relating to wild birds and birding in NZ that don't fit in one of the other forums.
Jim Kirker
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Re: Birds and wind farms/climate change

Postby Jim Kirker » Sat Feb 08, 2020 9:52 am

Selection experiments show they might evolve to adapt.
https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... dification
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Michael Szabo
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Alarm over collapse of Chinstrap Penguin numbers

Postby Michael Szabo » Tue Feb 11, 2020 2:09 pm

"Colonies of chinstrap penguins have fallen by more than half across islands in Antarctica, prompting scientific concern that 'something is broken' in the world’s wildest ecosystem. After more than a month counting chicks in the South Shetland Islands, researchers suspect global heating is behind the sharp fall in numbers of the distinctive birds, which get their name from a black line that runs below the beak from cheek to cheek. Using drones and handheld clickers, the team of four scientists from Stony Brook University in the US found only 52,786 breeding pairs on Elephant Island, 58% fewer than in the last survey in 1971. The scientists also conducted a penguin census in the snow, fog and freezing rain of Low island, where preliminary figures indicated a similar scale of decline in what is believed to be the largest chinstrap population in Antarctica. It was the same story on Livingston island, where the team braved choppy seas to land by the rocks of Hannah Point and conduct a count that was far down from previous estimates. The full tally from each island will not be released until the expedition is completed, but the researchers said the trend was clear and disturbing; Chinstrap colonies are shrinking, leaving space for another species of penguin, the Gentoo, to move in."
- "Alarm over collapse of Chinstrap Penguin numbers ", Jonathan Watts, The Guardian, 11 February 2020.

Link to news report: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ ... UoZGLG-Skg
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Michael Szabo
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What does climate change mean for seabirds?

Postby Michael Szabo » Thu Feb 27, 2020 8:00 am

"In the last 35 years, marine heatwaves have doubled in frequency and will continue to become more commonplace as a result of climate change. The mass die-off of several species during 2015 and 2016 should serve as a wake-up call; two-thirds of the common murres that died were adults, meaning the breeding population took a massive hit. Breeding colonies failed to produce any chicks for years during and after the marine heatwave. Its highly likely that many other seabird and ocean-dwelling animals will also experience mass die-off, if not extinction, as the temperature of the oceans continues to rise due to global warming."

Link: https://www.azocleantech.com/article.as ... cleID=1055
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Michael Szabo
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Over 20% of Australia's forests burned in recent bushfires

Postby Michael Szabo » Thu Feb 27, 2020 12:46 pm

More than 20% of Australia’s forests burned during the summer’s bushfire catastrophe, a proportion scientists believe is unprecedented globally, according to new research. Research published in a special edition of Nature Climate Change focused on the bushfire crisis finds that 21% of the total area covered by Australian forests – excluding Tasmania - has burnt so far in the 2019-20 bushfire season. ... Australia's annual average forest loss to wild fires is typically well below 2%. Between September 2019 and January 2020 around 5.8 million hectares of broadleaf forest burned in New South Wales and Victoria. This accounts for roughly 21% of Australia's forested area, making this fire season proportionately the most devastating on record. That's ten years worth of Australia's average annual wildfire forest loss in just five months.

Link to news report: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-n ... -bushfires

Link to 'In the line of fire' in Nature Climate Change (2020): https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-020-0720-5
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Michael Szabo
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Marine food webs could be radically altered by heating of oceans, scientists warn

Postby Michael Szabo » Fri Aug 14, 2020 9:59 am

"Heating of the world’s oceans could radically reorganise marine food webs across the globe causing the numbers of some species to collapse while promoting the growth of algae, according to new research from the University of Adelaide."

Link to news report: https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... B7AedJbfvM
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Michael Szabo
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Penguins originated in Australia and NZ, not Antarctica, new study finds

Postby Michael Szabo » Mon Aug 24, 2020 7:57 am

Penguins originated in Australia and New Zealand -- not the Antarctic, new study finds
Penguins didn't originate in Antarctica, as scientists have believed for years -- they first evolved in Australia and New Zealand, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.
The study, which was conducted in collaboration with museums and universities around the world, analyzed blood and tissue samples from 18 different species of penguins. They used this genomic information to look back in time, and trace the penguins' movement and diversification over millennia.
Penguins are adaptable -- but not enough for climate change
The study also sheds light on the penguins' adaptability to changing climates -- and the danger they now face in the modern climate crisis.
"We are able to show how penguins have been able to diversify to occupy the incredibly different thermal environments they live in today, going from 9 degrees Celsius (48 Fahrenheit) in the waters around Australia and New Zealand, down to negative temperatures in Antarctica and up to 26 degrees (79 Fahrenheit) in the Galapagos Islands," said Rauri Bowie, one of the lead researchers and a professor of integrative biology at UC Berkeley, in a statement from the university.
"But we want to make the point that it has taken millions of years for penguins to be able to occupy such diverse habitats, and at the rate that oceans are warming, penguins are not going to be able to adapt fast enough to keep up with changing climate."
The team was able to pinpoint genetic adaptations that allowed penguins to thrive in challenging environments; for example, their genes evolved to better regulate body temperature, which allowed them to live in both subzero Antarctic temperatures and warmer tropical climes.
But these steps of evolution took millions of years -- time that the penguins don't have now, as their populations dwindle.
"Right now, changes in the climate and environment are going too fast for some species to respond to the climate change," said Juliana Vianna, associate professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, in the UC Berkeley statement.
The different elements of climate change culminate in a perfect storm. Disappearing sea ice mean fewer breeding and resting grounds for emperor penguins. The reduced ice and warming oceans also mean less krill, the main component of the penguins' diet.

Link to news report: https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/18/aust ... vzVbYNwwjA

Link to paper: https://news.berkeley.edu/2020/08/17/pe ... hey-kiwis/
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Michael Szabo
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Seabirds, climate change and the Falkland Islands

Postby Michael Szabo » Wed Nov 11, 2020 7:37 am

Title: Seabird establishment during regional cooling drove a terrestrial ecosystem shift 5000 years ago

"The sudden appearance of seabirds breeding on the Falklands around 5,000 years ago corresponds with a cooling of the general climate at that time. This suggests that previously the waters were simply too warm to support such large colonies of birds."

"Abstract: The coastal tussock (Poa flabellata) grasslands of the Falkland Islands are a critical seabird breeding habitat but have been drastically reduced by grazing and erosion. Meanwhile, the sensitivity of seabirds and tussock to climate change is unknown because of a lack of long-term records in the South Atlantic. Our 14,000-year multiproxy record reveals an ecosystem state shift following seabird establishment 5000 years ago, as marine-derived nutrients from guano facilitated tussock establishment, peat productivity, and increased fire. Seabird arrival coincided with regional cooling, suggesting that the Falkland Islands are a cold-climate refugium. Conservation efforts focusing on tussock restoration should include this terrestrial-marine linkage, although a warming Southern Ocean calls into question the long-term viability of the Falkland Islands as habitat for low-latitude seabirds."

Link to news report: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/202 ... jLY_xASMyA

Link to paper: https://advances.sciencemag.org/content ... 8.abstract
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Michael Szabo
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Climate‐change impacts exacerbate conservation threats in island systems: NZ as a case study

Postby Michael Szabo » Thu Mar 25, 2021 5:31 pm

Climate‐change impacts exacerbate conservation threats in island systems: New Zealand as a case study

Cate Macinnis‐Ng; Angus R Mcintosh; Joanne M Monks; Nick Waipara; Richard SA White; Souad Boudjelas; Charlie D Clark; Michael J Clearwater; Timothy J Curran; Katharine JM Dickinson; Nicola Nelson; George LW Perry; Sarah J Richardson; Margaret C Stanley; Duane A Peltzer.

Abstract: "Rapid advances in eradicating invasive species from islands are improving conservation outcomes in these biodiversity hotspots. However, recent conservation gains could be reversed not only by future invasions from non‐native species but also by future extinctions of native taxa, both of which may be facilitated by – or exacerbated by interactions among drivers of – global environmental change. We highlight relevant knowledge gaps that must be filled to reduce uncertainty about the ecological effects of future climate change. We use Aotearoa New Zealand as a case study of island ecosystems to demonstrate that in addition to sea‐level rise, most ecologically meaningful impacts of climate change on biodiversity responses are indirect and due to exacerbation of existing threats, including the impact of invasive species as well as the loss and fragmentation of habitat. We identify key topics where progress is needed to future‐proof conservation management for island ecosystems susceptible to the direct and indirect effects of climate change."

News report: https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/300 ... y7utTJaczA

Link to paper: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley ... 2/fee.2285
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Michael Szabo
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Climate crisis behind drastic drop in Arctic wildlife populations - report (The Guardian)

Postby Michael Szabo » Fri May 21, 2021 7:01 am

"A drastic drop in Caribou and shorebird populations is a reflection of the dire changes unfolding on the Arctic tundra, according to a new report ... Of the 88 species of shorebird examined, 20% experienced declines in all populations, while well over half had at least one population in decline."

Link to news report: https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... ations-aoe
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Michael Szabo
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Greenhouse gas emissions threaten the Emperor Penguin - new study

Postby Michael Szabo » Sun Aug 08, 2021 2:14 pm

"New research shows that if sea ice declines at the rate projected by climate models under current energy-system trends and policies, extinction risk for emperor penguins would be dramatically increased and almost all colonies would become quasi-extinct by 2100.

Dr Phil Trathan, Head of Conservation Biology at British Antarctic Survey, and co-author who has worked on Antarctic penguins for over 30 years said, “Near-term global policy decisions under Paris Agreement objectives are intended to limit temperature increases to well below 2°C. This would ensure safe places for the emperor penguin, halting dramatic global population declines. As such, the future of emperor penguins ultimately depends upon decisions made today. The most important action is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to limit further warming”. "

Read the full news story here: https://www.bas.ac.uk/media-post/climat ... 6D1eYvmxpg
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