Summary
Hello everyone. First off, the above picture made me smile, so I decided it was worthy of being the main photo. Anyways, the chapter I read was about birds, and how global warming is making them migrate early, and the effects it is having. Here are some quick things to think about from the book.
- Most American bird species are migrating an average of 9 days earlier, and breeding 10 days earlier than they did 30 years ago.
- The huge down side of birds migrating early is that the breeding cycle of birds will be out of sync with it's food supply. As a result, 'Early birds may not get the worm.'
- State birds such as the Baltimore Oriole (Maryland), and the Black-Capped Chickadee (Massachusetts)will no longer even be in those states.
- In some ecosystems, if a bird that helps control insect population leaves, the results would be pretty bad. A bird called the Nesting Wood Warbler eat the Eastern Spruce Budworm. The Budworm defoliates millions of acres of forest each year as it is. The Warblers already eating 85% of the budworms, so you can imagine what would happen if 100% of the Budworm went uneaten. The millions of acres of forest defoliated would rise significantly.
New Terms
Avifaunal - the birds of a given region, considered as a whole
Neotropical - belonging or pertaining to a geographical division comprising that part of the New World extending from the tropic of Cancer southward.
New Concepts
Well, this whole chapter was a new concept to me. When I think of global warming, birds and the effect is has on them is not the first thing that comes to mind.
The part that really stuck out to me though was where it talked about what would happen if some birds left, and the insect population got out of control. I had bugs. So I pray this doesn't happen.
Links
American Bird Conservancy - A website dedicated to preserving birds in every aspect
Posts
Hey Steve-
ReplyDeleteGreat post.. I can't believe how important birds really are. I hate bugs as well and am hoping that does not happen. I really liked your picture as well, not going to lie, it mad me laugh as well. Keep up the good work!
Steve,
ReplyDeleteGood Job. I guess were finding out that most everything in the world connected in some way.
Steve
ReplyDeleteNice post! The bird picture is so funny! Anyone know what kind of bird it is? I have never thought of the birds as a sign of global warming. Good job Steve!
Heather
Steve
ReplyDeleteI really like the picture haha! I definitely don't think of birds when I think of global warming. It is crazy to see how much they effect everything else in our environment! Good post!
I never knew how important birds really were for the environment! Great Post Steve...I like the website link for preserving birds.
ReplyDeleteDon't forget to post as an opposing link=)
Hey Steve,
ReplyDeleteI have been trying to post a comment on your site foreverrr and there is an error, I hope this comment works!
But anyways, I am not a huge bird fan but this is a really interesting topic because of how the birds know when to migrate and how the timing of all that really effects the food supply of the other animals and also the feeding of those bugs that eat the forest and vegetation! I couldn't believe those little bugs could do that! Birds are really important to our environment and ecosystem, I wonder if the early migration will keep on happening, do you think it will stop eventually and go back to their normal migration times? This will be really interesting to see what happens in the future!
Cool post, thanks Steve!!
Kathy