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Climate Change & Conservation eNews

Wildife

Aaron Barna, USFWS

Climate change contributing to widespread butterfly decline across western United States

Dr. Tara Cornelisse, an entomologist and senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), said, "These declines are a wake-up call that we need to dramatically reduce greenhouse gases to save these beautiful and beloved butterflies, as well as our very way of life..."

study published today in Science found that climate change is contributing to widespread butterfly decline across the western United States. Using three different long-term datasets from the western U.S., the authors found downward trends in a majority of butterflies, including historically common species like the west coast lady.

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Spotted Butterfly On Flower
iStock

Fewer butterflies seen by community scientists across the warming and drying landscapes of the American West

This new study published in Science looked at three different data sets that cover the last 40 years of butterfly populations across more than 70 locations in the Western U.S..."That so many of our butterflies are declining is very alarming," Dr. Tara Cornelisse, an entomologist and senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD)...

Many recent studies have revealed sweeping declines in insects over the past few decades. Butterflies are no exception. This study used three different datasets, collected by both experts and community scientists, and found that the number of butterflies has declined over the past 40 years. Although the drivers of decline are complex, the authors found that climate change—in particular, warmer months in the autumn—explain a large portion, even as warming summers actually lead to increases. This work shows that climate change impacts may be insidious and unexpected in their effects…

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Butterfly With Spots
Patricia Marroquin/Moment/Getty Images

Western butterflies disappearing due to warmer fall seasons

You can help people understand that wildlife is increasingly at risk because of climate change—and the solutions to change that are within our grasp.

Butterflies across the U.S. West are disappearing, and now researchers say the climate crisis is largely to blame.

A new study published in Science looked at three different data sets that cover the last 40 years of butterfly populations across more than 70 locations in the Western U.S…”That so many of our butterflies are declining is very alarming,” Dr. Tara Cornelisse, an entomologist and senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), said in response to the findings. “These declines are a wake-up call that we need to dramatically reduce greenhouse gases to save these beautiful and beloved butterflies, as well as our very way of life…

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Sandhill Cranes
iStock

Sandhill cranes, a conservation success story, now face climate change threat

If you're looking for ways to weave climate change solutions into your conversations, this is a good example. Notice the conversational tone. You want to avoid jargon (technical terms) as much as possible—and use local examples.

“Birds are being pushed and tested by climate change,” [Nathaniel Miller, director of conservation for Audubon Great Lakes] said. “The climatic range of these birds developed over millennia. It’s all about timing. They’re usually in the right places at the right time. In spring, they’re where insects are hatching. In fall, they’re where they can find nuts and berries.

General warming trends, as well as extreme events like flooding, drought, and intense heat, throw this delicate balance and timing off kilter,” Miller said…

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Barn Swallow
Pixabay

Climate change cues tree swallows to nest earlier in spring

Birds and other animals are increasingly vulnerable to the erratic weather that climate change exacerbates. We are going to need to go beyond habitat protection to help them.

Hatchlings cannot regulate their body temperature, so they are vulnerable to hypothermia. And the insects they eat stop flying in cold weather, potentially leaving the chicks to starve.

“These chicks are growing very, very fast,” Twining says. “They have very high energy demands, so…if they don’t get a lot of that good high-quality food during this pretty specific time…that’s when these cold weather events seem to be most devastating.”

For example, data from Ithaca, New York, shows that a single cold snap in 2016 killed more than 70% of baby tree swallows…

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Whales In The Sea
Getty Images

Biden’s historic action on 30×30

The 30 x 30 initiative is (not surprisingly) strongly supported by land trusts and conservation organizations. Protecting land is what they/we do. The timing is important as there is increasing evidence that many of the lands and waters we are collectively working to conserve are near, or already at, a tipping point.

After a drumbeat of headlines in recent years detailing nature’s decline, there’s very good news from the Biden administration, with the president pledging to put America on the path of protecting at least 30 percent of its land and 30 percent of its ocean areas by 2030 (30×30). This action is necessary to reverse nature’s decline, fight climate change, and secure the natural life support systems we depend on for clean air and water, food, and quality of life. And, if done right, fulfilling a 30×30 goal offers benefits beyond safeguarding and strengthening the natural foundations of our society. It should create more equitable access to nature, bring communities together to conserve our shared natural heritage, honor tribal sovereignty and self-determination, and strengthen our economy.

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Desert Trees
Unsplash

Report: Exposure to climate change drives stability or collapse of desert mammal and bird communities

Birds are facing conditions that exceed their physiological limits, according to this new research published in Science.

“Understanding how our warming climate affects vulnerable species is of paramount importance. However, predicting responses is complicated because species are complex and may adapt or respond in distinct ways…”

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Cactus Wren
Gaetan Dupont/Audubon Photography Awards

How desert birds can survive with very little water

This brief and interesting audio story is brought to you by BirdNote, a partner of the National Audubon Society. BirdNote episodes air daily on public radio stations nationwide. It might be fun to check it out.

In the desert Southwest, summer temperatures sizzle, rising well over 100 degrees. And in some parts of the desert, there is not a drop of water for miles.

Yet some birds thrive in this scorching landscape. Here a Black-throated Sparrow sings from a thorn scrub. Now, a Cactus Wren announces itself atop a barrel cactus. And neither will be flying miles every day to the nearest source of water. So how do they survive?

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Desert Bird
Natural History Archive/Alamy

How climate change pushes even the hardiest desert birds past their limit

Many think that birds can adapt to climate change. Growing research shows this is not the case. Given how many people care about birds, this is a good way to connect with folks to address climate solutions—including getting off fossil fuels (the use of which is the driver of climate change).

The Mojave Desert, like many deserts across the world, is getting hotter and drier. Over the last century, it’s warmed by about 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius), and its already sparse rainfall has declined by 20 percent in some areas. Even before modern climate change, the Mojave’s birds lived at extremes; many desert birds have evolved special drought adaptations to save water. Now they’re facing conditions that exceed their physiological limits, according to new research published in Science.

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Elk In The Mountains
Reuters, Jim Yurquhart

Wildlife diseases poised to spread northwards as climate changes: study

As the world’s climate warms, parasite-carried wildlife diseases will move north, with animals in cold far-north and high-altitude regions expected to suffer the most dramatic increases, warns a study to be published…in the journal Science.

The study projects increasing spread over the next five decades of wildlife diseases caused by bacteria, fungi, viruses, and infectious worms. There are serious implications for humans, said co-author Jason Rohr of the University of Notre Dame, Indiana…

If warming is slowed, however, there will be “much, much smaller increases in infectious disease in wildlife,” Rohr said…

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