Fellow Carmen Soria gave a talk entitled Do traits determine bird local responses to climate change? on 14 December 2021 at the 30th International Congress for Conservation Biology (ICCB 2021).
Abstract:
Climate change is currently impacting many animal populations across the globe and is projected to become one of the main drivers of biodiversity loss. These changes in climate produce altered environmental conditions that might not be suitable for species’ persistence. Multiple studies have already reported population changes in distribution, phenology, or size in response to climate change. However, not all species present in the same area nor individuals of the same species located in different areas are responding in the same manner. To identify which populations will be the most impacted, we need to determine which of their characteristics or traits are associated to specific responses. Birds constitute an ideal study group, as there are many publications detailing their responses to climate change, especially phenological and distributional responses. In this study we explore the role that intrinsic (i.e., trophic level) and environmental (i.e., temperature range) traits play in determining the direction of phenological and distributional bird responses to climate change. We conducted a literature review of global responses of birds to climate change and identified which traits were related to experiencing range contractions compared to expansions and phenological advances compared to delays. We believe that our results will help in effectively identifying species sensitive to the effects of climate change, facilitating conservation actions.
[Oral presentation] Soria, C. (2021) Do traits determine bird local responses to climate change? , 30th International Congress for Conservation Biology, online.