Bird species with big ranges and big brains may not be as adaptable to climate change as previously thought
Bird species with large ranges and those with big brains aren’t spared when it comes to climate change challenges. As the globe warms, scientists have wondered why some species are able to adapt or adjust and others aren’t. In a study published in Nature Communications, researchers looked at the distribution of 1,500 bird species across the globe using citizen science information from eBird. They found that even though some bird species breed over large geographic areas, they may still need a specific range of climates. This can make them more vulnerable to a changing climate than researchers may have previously thought. This is true in places like the Arctic. “Because that region is so big, species that occupy it tend to have large populations and large geographic range sizes—two characteristics that are often associated with lower extinction risks,” said Carlos Botero, an associate professor of integrative biology and senior author of the study, in a press release. “The problem here is that because many of those species are adapted to a very narrow range of climates, those seemingly large populations can be quite susceptible to collapse when climate patterns begin to change.” In addition, the research team found that birds with larger brains relative to their bodies were also adapted to narrower climate niches. This surprised them since larger brains are often correlated with more flexible behavior. “However, it turns out that many big-brained birds are climate specialists—meaning that they have evolved to thrive in very particular climate types and may therefore also be more vulnerable to climate change than we expected,” Botero said.
