Climate change, increasing temperatures alter bird migration patterns
http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/5120/107/[font face=Times, Times New Roman, Serif][font size=5]Climate change, increasing temperatures alter bird migration patterns[/font]
Thursday, February 23, 2012
[font size=3]Birds in eastern North America are picking up the pace along their yearly migratory paths.
The reason, according to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers, is rising temperatures due to climate change.
Using migration information collected in
eBird, a citizen science program database containing 10 years worth of observations from amateur birdwatchers, assistant professor of biology Allen Hurlbert, Ph.D., and his team in the UNC College of Arts and Sciences analyzed when 18 different species of birds arrived at various points across their migration journeys. Since 2002, eBird has collected more than 48 million bird observations from roughly 35,000 contributors.
The study results were published in the journal PLoS ONE on Wednesday (Feb. 22).
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0031662