Southern birds are moving to the north in the winter
https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/wild-things/southern-birds-may-be-moving-your-winter-backyard?tgt=nr
Because of the higher temperatures around the world due to climate change, southern birds that generally prefer warmer temperatures, like cardinals, are migrating further and further north. Researchers studied FeederWatch data of 38 species over a span of 22 years, from 1989 to 2011, as well as average temperatures, during the months of December, January, and February. They found that on average, over the 22 years, average temperatures went up, and many birds started moving north. What's more surprising is that many birds accustomed to living in the south started migrating north as well.
This relates to our study of ecology, as well as our study of pseudoscience. This is evidence for climate change, which will affect almost all ecosystems within our biosphere. Climate change is the idea that the global temperature has been increasing unnaturally recently because of humans, and there is a lot of evidence to support this. Birds travelling north is simply another piece of evidence to support climate change. We also studied climate change in the context of pseudoscience. We determined that deniers of climate change were using pseudoscience to support their claims, and again, this confirms the supporter's theory of climate change.
How do the increasing number of birds in the north affect the food web? What are positive and negative effects of the change?
ReplyDeleteWhat niche would the birds that migrated from south to north occupy? How will they be different from the ones they did in the south?
ReplyDeleteWhat would the lack of birds in the south cause? How would this affect the food web there?
ReplyDelete@amanda
ReplyDeleteIt is not certain what the net effect of the change is. All tthe sources I found were simply showing movement of the birds. However, there are two likely effects. One, the southern birds simply fill in the same niche as the northern birds, and either get out-competed or out-compete the native species, but the overall effect would be the same. Second, they create their own niche and prey on/consume other organisms, causing much of the food web to collapse or mold.
@Eric They would likely occupy the same niche as the northern birds, but they could also occupy a completely new niche and out-compete the northern birds, interrupting the food web.
ReplyDelete@victor The birds would not "disappear" from the south, rather, when they normally are gone anyway, they would just migrate more north
ReplyDelete