Study: Larger Migratory Birds More Vulnerable To The Effect Of Climate Change

The new finding has found climate change to have more worrisome effects on larger birds and migratory birds than on smaller, sedentary species.

Researchers from all continents assessed changes in the annual production of young by female breeders in 201 populations of 104 bird species covering all continents between 1970 and 2019.

They discovered that climatic changes affect offspring production through compounded effects on the ecological and life history traits of species.

Their finding was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Overall, average offspring output has fallen in recent decades, according to the survey, with 56.7 percent of populations indicating a dropping trend and 43.3 percent showing an increase. However, significant differences were discovered between species and populations.

The researchers discovered that as temperatures rose throughout the chick-rearing period, migratory and large-bodied species produced fewer offspring, whereas smaller-bodied, stationary species produced more.

Department of Zoology and Wildlife Biology, Anbanathapuram Vahaira Charities College, Tamil Nadu, Assistant Professor, J. Pandiyan said, ”The study suggested that the body mass is one of the key factors for the adaptability towards climate change, in which the larger body sized species are struggling to synchronize with weather anomalies compared to the small and sedentary species”.

The researchers said, “Further, multi-brooded species showed increased breeding success with increasing temperatures, whereas rising temperatures were unrelated to reproductive success in single-brooded species”.

The study also discovered that the egg-laying process has diminished due to the preparation of egg-laying mechanisms in bird species.

According to the study, different ecological factors influence clutch size (number of eggs per nest) and success (fledgling and nestling).

However, the offspring production, clutch size, nest success, date of the first egg, and egg-laying process are examined in relation to various ecological factors, with temperature being one of them.

Pandiyan said, “The global warming and the elements causing climate change should be measured, monitored, and managed properly to save the species, which are facing vulnerability otherwise, the existence of biodiversity especially intolerable species would be extinct from the world due to human lifestyle”.

Pandiyan pointed out that the study did not conduct a thorough analysis of the bird population in the Asiatic region, which includes those in India.

According to him, migratory species birds use India’s diversity of habitat as an essential pit stop or refueling location throughout their migration, hence it is important to research the situation of migratory birds there.

”We have to explore their life history in relation to the ecological factors to sustain their population in India,” Pandiyan added.

(With input from PTI)

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