It turns out that climate change may have having a major impact on common birds. Scientists have found that common bird populations are responding to changing weather patterns in similar ways in both Europe and the U.S.
In this latest study, researchers characterized climates that are favored by different bird species. This allowed them to see if recent changes in climate may have positively or negatively affected common breeding birds. Then, the scientists used climate records from 1980 to 2010 and split the species of birds into two groups based on whether climate had been getting better or worse for each species.
In all, the researchers included 145 common bird species from Europe and 380 common bird species in the U.S. The researchers then contrasted average population trends of species in the two groups.
So what did they find? It turns out that there was a clear difference in the average population trends of different bird species. More specifically, the species that had a clear advantage in terms of climate also had higher numbers. In contrast, the birds that had a disadvantage in terms of climate also had lower numbers.
With that said, trends were also regional when it came to population numbers. As an example, the American robin has declined in some southern states like Mississippi and Louisiana. However, its numbers have increased in north-central states, such as the Dakotas. This shows a trend where species that prefer colder habitats are shifting northward.
"If there was no impact of climate change, you would expect the average population trend of species in the two groups to be the same, but the differences expose the fact that recent climate change has already favored once set of species over another," said Phillip Stephens of Durham University, one of the researchers of the study.
The results reveal a bit more about the shifts and changes in bird populations. This, in turn, may help conservationists better target areas in order to preserve bird species. This is especially important when considering the fact that climate change is likely to continue far into the future.
The findings were published in the April 1 issue of the journal Science.
