Birds: why they don’t adapt to climate change

The sudden change in climate caused by the global warming causes an increasingly common phenomenon, the mass migration. However, not all animal species are able to cope with such drastic changes. Most are at risk of becoming trapped in an old and unsuitable habitat. A phenomenon that has the precise name “climate decoupling”, “climate decoupling”. It touches the birds of North America.

This phenomenon affects animals and plants in all latitudes, especially North American avifauna. The University of Leipzig is conducting an interesting study on this topic. 114 different species of birds living in the United States and Canada were analyzed. Over the past 30 years, more than 30 of these species have since disrupted their habitat climate change. A species to take as an example is the sparrow Ammodramus savannarum. It lives in American prairies, which are disappearing today. One subspecies of this bird is even threatened with extinction.

However, bird species are not all equally affected by global warming. The specialized species they are the most affected and therefore need the most specific environments to survive. The reasons for disconnection vary. For example, for species that are linked to their habitat due to the presence of certain resources, so that they cannot leave their environment. Then species that do not want to get lost in places unknown to them and for many other reasons, such as pollution or destruction of habitats. The decoupling of the climate mainly has consequences for types already considered on extinction and therefore need more protection.