Question

You study bird species on a remote Peruvian mountain and are interested in how the populations have responded to climate change. You have access to bird population surveys from 1985. In this location, annual mean temperature has increased by 0.42 °C from 1985 to 2018. (A) Based on your understanding of ecology and evolution, make three predictions describing how bird species from different elevations will respond to rising temperatures (3 points). (B) Briefly describe a way that you could test one of your hypotheses (1 point). (C) Using concepts from throughout the semester (e.g., biodiversity, population processes, species interactions, adaptation and niches, etc.) describe at least two implications of bird responses to climate change (6 points). For full credit your answer must integrate both ecological and evolutionary concepts. You will have 1 full page to write your short essay response.

Answer 1

The annual mean temperature has increased by 0.42C from 1985 to 2018. It is known that the birds tend to respond to the rise in temperature in different ways. There are three conditions that mostly occur when there is a rise in the temperature.

• Shifting of the migration time – The birds at different elevation tend to migrate from one place to another in search of food. It was found that with the rise in the temperature the birds are migrating earlier than their regular timing. In case of autumn, the departure of the bird sort of is delayed and this tends to change the whole of the migration cycle.
• Incompatible behavior with the environment – Another thing that is noticed in such cases is that the birds are not able to adjust to the current environment. There is a shift in behavior due to the mismatch and due to change in the breeding time. This is basically leading to a complete change in the distribution of the bird species. This tends to shift the birds to a different elevation due to rise in temperature.
• Time of egg laying is changing – This is another major change that is noticed where the time of laying egg for the birds are changing. The average rate at which the bird is able to lay the eggs is changing.

One of the ways by which the hypothesis can be tested is to understand the ratio of the migration of the birds and noticing the time when the eggs are laid. By making a comparison with the previous values and the time the hypothesis can be tested.

Two implications of bird responses to climate change:-

There are many implications that the bird species face due to the rise in temperature. The diversity changes and they tend to adapt to certain condition.

• One of the major implications is adaptation where the bird tends to undergo certain changes and this helps them to adapt to the environment. The biodiversity of the bird species completely depends on if it is able to adapt to the changing condition or not. The ones which are able to survive the changes live and undergo certain modification and rest either move to other location or die.
• They help in increasing the species interaction as they tend to move from one location to another. The niches are different and depending on the bird species, they are able to move to the niches for which they are best suitable.