Climate Change

The abundance and diversity of food resources across space and time are key drivers in the evolution of bird migration.  They determine when and where birds can breed, how often they can breed and the success of those attempts. Arctic-nesting shorebirds travel thousands of kilometers each year to take advantage of the abundant burst of invertebrate prey in the Arctic. Climate-induced changes in the phenology of invertebrate prey in the Arctic may threaten this key advantage of flying so far.

In the High-Arctic, I have found that climate-induced changes in food availability may be driving a phenological mismatch between the timing of hatch and food resource peaks resulting in reduced chick growth rates.   Alternately, my research in the Sub-Arctic has indicated that southern nesting populations may not show the same vulnerability.

The main objective of this research is to investigate how the potential reproductive benefits of long distance migration may be threatened by predicted changes in climate.  Here we are combining an ecosystem approach with physiological experiments to explore the potential effects of climate change on arctic-nesting shorebird populations. Current questions include:

Can small-scale variation in food availability and microclimate influence growth rates and survival of chicks? 

Will increases in ambient temperature affect metabolic rates of chicks enough to mitigate reduced food availability?

Pitfall trap, used to measure and compare abundance and diversity of arthropods (in this case, across small-scale areas)

©Brandan Norman

Weighing shorebird chicks to determine growth rate

©Brandan Norman

Chick survival until fledging is an important aspect of monitoring effects of climate change on Arctic-breeding shorebirds

©Brandan Norman

Avian Ecology and Global Change

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