logo
ResearchBunny Logo
Global patterns of climate change impacts on desert bird communities

Environmental Studies and Forestry

Global patterns of climate change impacts on desert bird communities

L. Ma, S. R. Conradie, et al.

Explore how climate change is expected to impact global desert biodiversity, particularly focusing on desert birds. This intriguing study reveals heterogeneous effects across warm deserts and highlights the urgent need to protect climate change refugia, as only a small fraction is currently included in protected areas. This research was conducted by Liang Ma, Shannon R. Conradie, Christopher L. Crawford, Alexandra S. Gardner, Michael R. Kearney, Ilya M. D. Maclean, Andrew E. McKechnie, Chun-Rong Mi, Rebecca A. Senior, and David S. Wilcove.

00:00
00:00
Playback language: English
Abstract
The world's warm deserts are predicted to experience disproportionately large temperature increases due to climate change, yet the impacts on global desert biodiversity remain poorly understood. This study combines climate change projections with biophysical models and species distributions to predict physiological impacts of climate change on desert birds globally. Results show heterogeneous impacts between and within warm deserts, with spatial patterns not mirroring air temperature changes. Climate change refugia persist to varying extents, but only a small proportion (<20%) fall within existing protected areas, highlighting the need for increased protection of these refugial areas.
Publisher
Nature Communications
Published On
Jan 13, 2023
Authors
Liang Ma, Shannon R. Conradie, Christopher L. Crawford, Alexandra S. Gardner, Michael R. Kearney, Ilya M. D. Maclean, Andrew E. McKechnie, Chun-Rong Mi, Rebecca A. Senior, David S. Wilcove
Tags
climate change
desert biodiversity
desert birds
temperature increases
refugia
protected areas

Related Publications

Explore these studies to deepen your understanding of the subject.

Impacts of the global food system on terrestrial biodiversity from land use and climate change
Environmental Studies and Forestry

Impacts of the global food system on terrestrial biodiversity from land use and climate change

E. H. Boakes, C. Dalin, et al.

Potential impacts of climate change on agriculture and fisheries production in 72 tropical coastal communities
Environmental Studies and Forestry

Potential impacts of climate change on agriculture and fisheries production in 72 tropical coastal communities

J. E. Cinner, L. R. Caldwell, et al.

Impacts of climate change on reproductive phenology in tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia
Environmental Studies and Forestry

Impacts of climate change on reproductive phenology in tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia

S. Numata, K. Yamaguchi, et al.

Nonlinear El Niño impacts on the global economy under climate change
Economics

Nonlinear El Niño impacts on the global economy under climate change

Y. Liu, W. Cai, et al.

Listen, Learn & Level Up
Over 10,000 hours of research content in 25+ fields, available in 12+ languages.
No more digging through PDFs, just hit play and absorb the world's latest research in your language, on your time.
listen to research audio papers with researchbunny