Publication: Science Daily

UCLA Expert: Morgan Tingley: Associate Professor, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability; Associate Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
 

Casey Youngflesh: Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Synopsis: A new UCLA study found that birds can't keep up with the earlier arrival of spring caused by climate change. As a result, they're raising fewer young.

UCLA News: "By the end of the 21st century, spring is likely to arrive about 25 days earlier, with birds breeding only about 6.75 days earlier," said the study's first author, Youngflesh. "Our results suggest that breeding productivity may decrease about 12% for the average songbird species." Senior author, Tingley, added that "North America has lost nearly a third of its bird populations since the 1970s.” While the study demonstrates that the worst impacts of timing mismatch likely won't occur for several decades yet, “we need to focus now on concrete strategies to boost bird populations before climate change takes its toll."

Read more at Science Daily.