Birds and wind farms/climate change

[Michael Szabo]

A new study "Predicting which species succeed in climate-forced polar seas" published in Frontiers in Marine Science by British Antarctic Survey researchers has determined winners and losers of climate change in the Antarctic. They show that marine animals associated with sea ice for food or breeding, such as humpback whales and emperor penguins, are most at risk from the effects of climate change, while seafloor predators and open-water feeding animals like starfish and jellyfish will benefit from the opening up of new habitat.

Link to paper: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10 ... 00507/full

[Neil Fitzgerald]

Abstract
Ongoing climate change is thought to disrupt trophic relationships, with consequences for complex interspecific interactions, yet the effects of climate change on species interactions are poorly understood, and such effects have not been documented at a global scale. Using a single database of 38,191 nests from 237 populations, we found that shorebirds have experienced a worldwide increase in nest predation over the past 70 years. Historically, there existed a latitudinal gradient in nest predation, with the highest rates in the tropics; however, this pattern has been recently reversed in the Northern Hemisphere, most notably in the Arctic. This increased nest predation is consistent with climate-induced shifts in predator-prey relationships.

Kubelka V, Šálek M, Tomkovich P, Végvári Z, Freckleton RP, Székely T 2018. Global pattern of nest predation is disrupted by climate change in shorebirds. Science 362: 680-683.

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/362/6415/680

[Michael Szabo]

Predator‐mediated effects of severe drought associated with poor reproductive success of a seabird in a cross‐ecosystem cascade

Sarah Thomsen and David Green, Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6 Canada
Global Change Biology, 17 February 2019

Abstract: Despite the profound impacts of drought on terrestrial productivity in coastal arid ecosystems, only a few studies have addressed how drought can influence ecological cascades across ecosystem boundaries. In this study, we examine the consequences of rainfall pulses and drought that subsequently impact the breeding success of a threatened nocturnal seabird, the Scripps's Murrelet (Synthliboramphus scrippsi). On an island off the coast of southern California, the main cause of reduced nest success for one of their largest breeding colonies is egg predation by an endemic deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus elusus). Mice on the island have an opportunistic diet of primarily terrestrial sources, but drastic declines in terrestrial productivity from drought might be expected to increase their reliance on marine resources, including murrelet eggs. We compiled data on terrestrial and marine productivity between 1983‐2013 to determine how conditions in these ecosystems influence murrelet nest success. We found that the severity of drought had the strongest negative impact on murrelet nest success. We calculated that the reduction in fecundity during drought years due to increased egg predation by mice was substantial enough to produce a declining population growth rate. Nest success was much higher under normal or high rainfall conditions, depending on whether oceanic conditions were favorable to murrelets. Therefore, the more frequent and severe drought that is projected for this region could lead to an increased risk of murrelet population decline on this island. Our study highlights the need for understanding how species interactions will change through the effects of increasing drought and altered rainfall regimes under global change.

Link to study: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.14595

[Michael Szabo]

Adaptive responses of animals to climate change are most likely insufficient (in Nature Communications)

Abstract: Biological responses to climate change have been widely documented across taxa and regions, but it remains unclear whether species are maintaining a good match between phenotype and environment, i.e. whether observed trait changes are adaptive. Here we reviewed 10,090 abstracts and extracted data from 71 studies reported in 58 relevant publications, to assess quantitatively whether phenotypic trait changes associated with climate change are adaptive in animals. A meta-analysis focussing on birds, the taxon best represented in our dataset, suggests that global warming has not systematically affected morphological traits, but has advanced phenological traits. We demonstrate that these advances are adaptive for some species, but imperfect as evidenced by the observed consistent selection for earlier timing. Application of a theoretical model indicates that the evolutionary load imposed by incomplete adaptive responses to ongoing climate change may already be threatening the persistence of species.

Link to study: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-10924-4

[Michael Szabo]

Two-thirds of North American bird species are at increasing risk of extinction from global temperature rise. National Audubon Society scientists used 140 million observations, recorded by birders and scientists, to describe where 604 North American bird species live today. They then used the latest climate models to project how each species’ range will shift as climate change and other human impacts advance across the continent. The results are clear: birds will be forced to relocate to find favorable homes. And they may not survive.

Link: https://www.audubon.org/climate/surviva ... vCbi_dzaDk

[Michael Szabo]

A new report on the impacts of climate change in Australia has compiled images of birds and mammals that have died of heat stress and dead trees, coral reefs and kelp forests. "Australia's ecosystems are being transformed before our eyes,” the report says. “Already bruised and battered by multiple human-induced stresses including land clearing, invasive species and freshwater diversion, climate change is adding insult to injury.

“Solutions are at hand. We need to accelerate the transition to clean, affordable and reliable renewable energy and storage technologies and ramp up other climate solutions in transport, industry, agriculture, land use and other sectors. Our health, economy, communities, and precious natural icons depend on it.”

Link to photos: https://www.australiangeographic.com.au ... bKJcRz8DKw

Link to report: https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/resou ... iH98vVrfh8

[Michael Szabo]

Emperor penguins could go extinct by 2100 if we fail on climate change - New Scientist
"Unchecked climate change could drive emperor penguins to extinction by the end of the century as sea ice vanishes. But if the world delivers on the toughest target of the Paris climate agreement, of limiting global temperature rises to 1.5°C, then numbers of the iconic species will decline by less than a third."

https://www.newscientist.com/article/22 ... ms3Q8qFuvc

[Michael Szabo]

First evidence of the impact of climate change on Arctic Terns
A new study has tracked an Arctic Tern 96,000 kilometres from its breeding grounds on the UK coast to its winter quarters in Antarctica, including a short stay on the New Zealand coast, before returning to the UK. The study's lead author Dr. Chris Redfern (Newcastle University, UK) says that warmer weather in Antarctica can reduce krill abundance and how far the birds need to fly when they forage for their krill prey.

Link to story: https://phys.org/news/2019-11-evidence- ... d926GqM-MM

[Michael Szabo]

Extreme mortality and reproductive failure of Common Murres resulting from the northeast Pacific marine heatwave of 2014-2016

A new study has found that an estimated circa one million Common Murres died of starvation between summer 2015 and spring 2016 in the northeast Pacific. This co-occurred with the most powerful marine heatwave on record that persisted through 2014–2016 and created an enormous volume of ocean water from California to Alaska with temperatures that exceeded average by 2–3 standard deviations, and reduced phytoplankton biomass. In response, forage fish quality and quantity diminished.

Abstract: About 62,000 dead or dying common murres (Uria aalge), the trophically dominant fish-eating seabird of the North Pacific, washed ashore between summer 2015 and spring 2016 on beaches from California to Alaska. Most birds were severely emaciated and, so far, no evidence for anything other than starvation was found to explain this mass mortality. Three-quarters of murres were found in the Gulf of Alaska and the remainder along the West Coast. Studies show that only a fraction of birds that die at sea typically wash ashore, and we estimate that total mortality approached 1 million birds. About two-thirds of murres killed were adults, a substantial blow to breeding populations. Additionally, 22 complete reproductive failures were observed at multiple colonies region-wide during (2015) and after (2016–2017) the mass mortality event. Die-offs and breeding failures occur sporadically in murres, but the magnitude, duration and spatial extent of this die-off, associated with multi-colony and multi-year reproductive failures, is unprecedented and astonishing. These events co-occurred with the most powerful marine heatwave on record that persisted through 2014–2016 and created an enormous volume of ocean water (the “Blob”) from California to Alaska with temperatures that exceeded average by 2–3 standard deviations. Other studies indicate that this prolonged heatwave reduced phytoplankton biomass and restructured zooplankton communities in favor of lower-calorie species, while it simultaneously increased metabolically driven food demands of ectothermic forage fish. In response, forage fish quality and quantity diminished. Similarly, large ectothermic groundfish were thought to have increased their demand for forage fish, resulting in greater top-predator demands for diminished forage fish resources. We hypothesize that these bottom-up and top-down forces created an “ectothermic vise” on forage species leading to their system-wide scarcity and resulting in mass mortality of murres and many other fish, bird and mammal species in the region during 2014–2017.

Extreme mortality and reproductive failure of common murres resulting from the northeast Pacific marine heatwave of 2014-2016
Piatt JF, Parrish JK, Renner HM, Schoen SK, Jones TT, Arimitsu ML, et al. (2020). PLoS ONE 15(1).

Link to study: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/artic ... 087#sec012

[Michael Szabo]

Samples from famed 19th century voyage reveal ‘shocking’ effects of ocean acidification.

"... the researchers used a computerized tomography scanner to create precise 3D images of the shells, which are less than 1 millimeter in diameter. They discovered that on average, all modern specimens had thinner shells than the historic specimens, up to 76% thinner in N. dutertrei, they reported last week in Scientific Reports. Some modern specimens had shells so thin that the team was unable to image some portions. “I was a little bit shocked to see how dramatic the results were for some species,” Fox says. Based on past experiments, the researchers say ocean acidification is likely to blame. ..."

Phytoplankton produce 50 to 85 percent of the oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere.

Link: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/02 ... m=Facebook