Birds and Climate Change

Temperature and other climate variables are currently changing at a dramatic rate. As observations have shown, these climatic changes have serious consequences for all organisms and their ability to adapt to changing environmental conditions. Birds are excellent model organisms, with a very active metabolism, they are highly sensitive to environmental changes and as highly mobile creatures they are also extremely reactive. Birds and Climate Change discusses our current knowledge of observed changes and provides guidelines for studies in the years to come so we can document and understand how patterns of changing weather conditions may affect birds.

"...a valuable reference for ornithologists, for those interested in specific biotic effects of climate change, and for those looking for a portal to data sets amenable to building predictive climate-effect models."— Jason Jones, Vassar College, for ECOLOGY

"One of the strengths of this book is the breadth of topics covered in a relatively short volume...Chapters on timing of migration and the energetics of migration are at their strongest when discussing the specifics of avian ecology...The editors provide a broad range of questions that will interest academic avian biologists...Birds and Climate Change is at its best in helping scientists take advantage of a 'unique opportunity to study the adaptation of organisms to their changing environments'. Those seeking to understand and perhaps limit the impacts of human-caused environmental change on birds and other organisms can certainly benefit from the insight presented here."—John P. McCarty, Department of Biology, University of Nebraska in THE CONDOR