The early arrival of spring in the Arctic leads to the death of birds in Africa
An international group of scientists in the community with zoologists of Moscow State University. M. V. Lomonosov presented data from 30 years of research on the evolution of the Icelandic sandbox, indicating that climatic changes in the Arctic entail a reduction in bird populations on the African continent. The article was published in the magazine Scince and posted on the cover of the issue.
An analysis of data collected over more than three decades has convincingly demonstrated that the effects of climate change in the Arctic could have consequences on a continent several thousand kilometers away from the Arctic ice. The choice of this bird as an object for research was not accidental. The Icelandic Sandpiper (Calidris canutus) is one of the recognized leaders in flight range, a bird that is able to continually cover about 5,000 kilometers. Every autumn, the sandboxes go for wintering to the shores of Mauritania, Australia or South America, and in spring they return to Greenland, the Taimyr Peninsula, Alaska or the Canadian Arctic Archipelago for reproduction. The sandpiper prefers the most northerly and coldest latitudes for nesting, and the arrival of birds to the north is not accidental. The birth of chicks is confined to the seasonal peak of the number of their main food - insects. The consequences of global warming have changed the order of things in just a few decades.
As it turned out, over the years the onset of spring on Taimyr, and with it the peak of the number of insects, shifted by almost two weeks. And if before the snow on the peninsula went to the middle of July, today it happens at the end of June. Because of this, although the “formal” arrival dates of the birds did not change, the birds began to nest phenologically later than three decades ago, having to skip the peak of the nestlings that are so necessary for the development of insects. The lack of food led to a decrease in growth rates and a decrease in the size of young birds so that it became impossible to compensate for their subsequent lives.
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With the onset of cold weather, young sandwalks continue on their long journey and successfully reach Africa, where they spend the winter in the Banc d'Arguin National Park in Mauritania. There the sandboxes feed on clam clams in the sand at a certain depth, which are extracted by a rather long beak.
Birds with long beaks are in a preferred position and diversify their diet with the mollusk Loripes lucinalis, burying deep enough in the sand. Sandboxes with a shorter beak have to be content with a different species - Dosinia isocardia. But the subspecies with a critically short beak remains plant food - the rhizomes of the small seashore (Zostera noltii). At the same time, the survival rate for birds that are unable to reach the Loripes mollusks is significantly lower than for those that did not experience food restrictions.
Food restrictions associated with a decrease in body size and shortening of the beak, especially strongly affect young birds, much of which because of this is not able to survive their first winter. Thus, the consequences of the problem that has arisen in birds in the Arctic, fully manifest in a few months, and on another continent. And the research results lead scientists to a disappointing conclusion: the threat of extinction for the sandboxes today is more than real: the number of populations of all northern species of sandpipers has decreased significantly, and some subspecies are already on the verge of extinction. If the size of the beak of birds decreases to such an extent that it is impossible to get clams at all, the species will disappear as such.
A source
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An analysis of data collected over more than three decades has convincingly demonstrated that the effects of climate change in the Arctic could have consequences on a continent several thousand kilometers away from the Arctic ice. The choice of this bird as an object for research was not accidental. The Icelandic Sandpiper (Calidris canutus) is one of the recognized leaders in flight range, a bird that is able to continually cover about 5,000 kilometers. Every autumn, the sandboxes go for wintering to the shores of Mauritania, Australia or South America, and in spring they return to Greenland, the Taimyr Peninsula, Alaska or the Canadian Arctic Archipelago for reproduction. The sandpiper prefers the most northerly and coldest latitudes for nesting, and the arrival of birds to the north is not accidental. The birth of chicks is confined to the seasonal peak of the number of their main food - insects. The consequences of global warming have changed the order of things in just a few decades.
As it turned out, over the years the onset of spring on Taimyr, and with it the peak of the number of insects, shifted by almost two weeks. And if before the snow on the peninsula went to the middle of July, today it happens at the end of June. Because of this, although the “formal” arrival dates of the birds did not change, the birds began to nest phenologically later than three decades ago, having to skip the peak of the nestlings that are so necessary for the development of insects. The lack of food led to a decrease in growth rates and a decrease in the size of young birds so that it became impossible to compensate for their subsequent lives.
')
With the onset of cold weather, young sandwalks continue on their long journey and successfully reach Africa, where they spend the winter in the Banc d'Arguin National Park in Mauritania. There the sandboxes feed on clam clams in the sand at a certain depth, which are extracted by a rather long beak.
Birds with long beaks are in a preferred position and diversify their diet with the mollusk Loripes lucinalis, burying deep enough in the sand. Sandboxes with a shorter beak have to be content with a different species - Dosinia isocardia. But the subspecies with a critically short beak remains plant food - the rhizomes of the small seashore (Zostera noltii). At the same time, the survival rate for birds that are unable to reach the Loripes mollusks is significantly lower than for those that did not experience food restrictions.
Food restrictions associated with a decrease in body size and shortening of the beak, especially strongly affect young birds, much of which because of this is not able to survive their first winter. Thus, the consequences of the problem that has arisen in birds in the Arctic, fully manifest in a few months, and on another continent. And the research results lead scientists to a disappointing conclusion: the threat of extinction for the sandboxes today is more than real: the number of populations of all northern species of sandpipers has decreased significantly, and some subspecies are already on the verge of extinction. If the size of the beak of birds decreases to such an extent that it is impossible to get clams at all, the species will disappear as such.
A source
That's all, with you there was a simple service for choosing sophisticated Dronk.Ru equipment. Do not forget to subscribe to our blog , there will be many more interesting things.
PS * - referral links marked with an asterisk, so you can save further by returning cashback up to 3%. Read more at Dronk.ru/cashback/ or you can receive up to 30% for any purchases by purchasing them through the LetyShops cashback service.
LetyShops cashback service sponsor . Return money for any purchases on the Internet. Read more about what a cashback service is in our article. We choose a cashback service for the 6th anniversary of Aliexpress.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/393999/
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