Sahara Fragile

Main Menu

  • Home
  • Sahara desert
  • Namib desert
  • Kalahari desert
  • Savanna desert
  • Fragile States

Sahara Fragile

Header Banner

Sahara Fragile

  • Home
  • Sahara desert
  • Namib desert
  • Kalahari desert
  • Savanna desert
  • Fragile States
Kalahari desert
Home›Kalahari desert›American desert songbirds endangered in warming climate

American desert songbirds endangered in warming climate

By Christopher J. Jones
March 7, 2017
0
0


Days per year with a modeled lethal dehydration risk for three species of songbirds under our current climate from 1980 to 2012 and under a future warming scenario of 7 degrees Fahrenheit from 2070 to 2100. Species are ranked in order of body mass growing. Credit: NASA

Predicted increases in the frequency, intensity and duration of heat waves in the desert of the southwestern United States put songbirds at increased risk of death from dehydration and mass mortality, new study finds .

The researchers used hourly temperature maps and other data produced by the North American Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS) – a modeling effort of the earth’s surface maintained by NASA and other organizations – as well as physiological data. to study how the rates of evaporative water loss in response to high temperatures varied between five species of birds with different body masses. Using this data, they were able to map the potential effects of current and future heat waves on the risk of deadly dehydration for songbirds in the southwest and how quickly dehydration can occur in each species.

The researchers focused on five species of songbirds commonly found in the southwestern desert: the goldfinch, house finch, cactus wren, Abert’s tohi, and curved-billed mockingbird. .

Under projected conditions where temperatures rise by 4 degrees Celsius (7 degrees Fahrenheit), which is consistent with some summer warming scenarios by the turn of the century, heat waves will occur more often, become hotter and s ‘will expand geographically to the point where all five species will be at greater risk of fatal dehydration.

American desert songbirds endangered in warming climate

This is an image from NASA’s moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer showing warmer-than-normal Earth surface temperatures over much of the southwestern United States from July 1-8, 2001. Credit: NASA

Birds are sensitive to heat stress in two ways, said co-author Blair Wolf, professor of biology at the University of New Mexico. With funding from the National Science Foundation, Wolf studied heat tolerance for each of the five species in the study as well as other bird species in Australia and South Africa. “When it’s really hot, they just can’t evaporate enough water to stay cool, so they overheat and die from heat stroke,” he said. “In other cases, the high rates of evaporative water loss needed to stay cool deplete their body water supplies to lethal levels and birds die of dehydration. It’s the stressor we’re on. we are focused in this study. “

What’s going on is around 40 degrees Celsius [104 degrees Fahrenheit], these songbirds begin to gasp, which increases the rate of water loss very quickly, said co-author Alexander Gerson, assistant professor of biology at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. At the time of the study, he was working with Wolf as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of New Mexico. He added: “Most animals can only tolerate water loss that results in a loss of 15 or 20 percent of body mass before dying. Thus, an animal experiencing peak temperatures on a hot day in summer, without access to water, not more than a few hours. “

As expected, they found that small species are particularly susceptible to deadly dehydration because they lose water at a proportionately higher rate. For example, at 50 degrees Celsius [122 degrees Fahrenheit], the small goldfinch and house finch lose 8 to 9 percent of their body mass due to evaporative water loss per hour, while the larger curved-billed mockingbird only loses about 5 percent of its body mass. mass per hour. By the turn of the century, the number of days in the southwestern desert where fatal dehydration poses a high risk for the goldfinch increased from 7 to 25 days per year. For larger species, those days will also increase, but remain rare.

American desert songbirds endangered in warming climate

A goldfinch sits on a branch. Credit: Don Faulkner (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Despite their physiological disadvantage, domestic finches and goldfinches might actually fare comparatively better, the researchers noted, as they can survive in a number of ecosystems and have a wider range. But desert specialists such as the Bent-billed Thrasher and Abert’s tohi have more specific habitat requirements and therefore have a more limited range, limited to the United States primarily to the hot deserts of the southwest. This means that a greater proportion of their population is at risk of fatal dehydration when sufficiently severe heat waves occur.

“When you find yourself in a situation where the majority of the range is affected, that’s where we start to worry more about what we see,” said lead author Tom Albright of the University of Nevada, Reno, noting that this increases the risk of fatal dehydration affecting a large part of the population.

According to the researchers, given this warming scenario, climate refuges – microclimates such as mountain peaks, trees and shady lakes that allow songbirds to cool down to safe levels – could develop. be very important in management plans for certain vulnerable species. “By using this kind of data, managers identifying the best refugia can get a better idea of ​​the temperature profile that will suit these birds,” Gerson said.


Desert songbirds could face growing threat of deadly dehydration


Provided by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center


Quote: American Desert Songbirds Endangered in a Warming Climate (2017, March 7) retrieved October 14, 2021 from https://phys.org/news/2017-03-songbirds-climate.html

This document is subject to copyright. Other than fair use for private study or research purposes, no part may be reproduced without written permission. The content is provided for information only.


Related posts:

  1. Operation Kalahari Desert: officers should act only on instructions
  2. A remnant of a brilliant fireball that exploded over Africa has been recovered from the desert
  3. A thriving artists’ colony in the South African desert
  4. Teamwork in the Desert Explains the Global Model of Bird Cooperation
Tagssouth africaunited states

CATEGORIES

  • Fragile States
  • Kalahari desert
  • Namib desert
  • Sahara desert
  • Savanna desert

RECENT POSTS

  • E-commerce sales spike to record. Retail sales ex gas stations, ex car dealerships Go to record. Falling gas prices and shortage of new vehicles threaten these retailers
  • At least 15 migrants die in Libya’s Sahara Desert
  • You need to regulate how much you can actually afford to pay each month
  • NASA satellite sees dust plume from Sahara Desert over Atlantic Ocean
  • How much do you buy for real estate financing?

ARCHIVES

  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • March 2017
  • January 2017
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • January 2016
  • November 2015
  • July 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • January 2014
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • November 2012
  • May 2012
  • October 2011
  • November 2010
  • April 2008
  • July 2006
  • November 2005
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions