Shifting frontiers: understanding species’ abundance range shifts for informed conservation strategies
Birds provide ecosystem and human services by pollinating wildflowers, consuming invasive insects, and providing recreation opportunities like bird watching and hunting. Over the past half century, bird populations in North America have declined substantially due to environmental change. To cope with warming temperatures, for example, birds might be able to track the climate by moving northwards to cooler areas. Yet it is unknown whether those birds whose populations move the furthest (known as a range shift) can persist, and what influences species’ ability to successfully shift or not. For example, the Southwest U.S. is warming, drying, and burning more than other region in the contiguous United States, and bird species of conservation concern are shifting their ranges in response. Wildlife managers in the Southwest are interested in developing dynamic plans to conserve birds throughout their shifting ranges into the future. With partners in the Utah Department of Natural Resources, Bird Conservancy of the Rockies, and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, this project aims to track and understand range shifts in Southwestern bird species’ populations using novel statistical models and broad extent bird datasets including citizen science. Results from this work will be hosted in an interactive web application for partners and the public to understand how Southwestern birds are shifting their populations in response to climate change. Wildlife conservation managers can use the results of this investigation to designate Bird Conservation Opportunity areas and Climate Refugia for imperiled species of public concern across the Southwest. By identifying hotspots or coldspots of population decline, wildlife managers would have scientific evidence to support decision making regarding how to prioritize conservation resources to conserve vulnerable species and important landscapes most efficiently and effectively for birds.
- Source: USGS Sciencebase (id: 6890fadcd4be02693f467796)
Birds provide ecosystem and human services by pollinating wildflowers, consuming invasive insects, and providing recreation opportunities like bird watching and hunting. Over the past half century, bird populations in North America have declined substantially due to environmental change. To cope with warming temperatures, for example, birds might be able to track the climate by moving northwards to cooler areas. Yet it is unknown whether those birds whose populations move the furthest (known as a range shift) can persist, and what influences species’ ability to successfully shift or not. For example, the Southwest U.S. is warming, drying, and burning more than other region in the contiguous United States, and bird species of conservation concern are shifting their ranges in response. Wildlife managers in the Southwest are interested in developing dynamic plans to conserve birds throughout their shifting ranges into the future. With partners in the Utah Department of Natural Resources, Bird Conservancy of the Rockies, and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, this project aims to track and understand range shifts in Southwestern bird species’ populations using novel statistical models and broad extent bird datasets including citizen science. Results from this work will be hosted in an interactive web application for partners and the public to understand how Southwestern birds are shifting their populations in response to climate change. Wildlife conservation managers can use the results of this investigation to designate Bird Conservation Opportunity areas and Climate Refugia for imperiled species of public concern across the Southwest. By identifying hotspots or coldspots of population decline, wildlife managers would have scientific evidence to support decision making regarding how to prioritize conservation resources to conserve vulnerable species and important landscapes most efficiently and effectively for birds.
- Source: USGS Sciencebase (id: 6890fadcd4be02693f467796)