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IMAGE: A sage thrasher perches on a shrub near Kelleys Well in Inyo County, California. The Mojave Desert s bird populations have been hit hard by climate change, but a new study. view more
Credit: Chelsea Hofmeier photo
Berkeley In the arid Mojave Desert, small burrowing mammals like the cactus mouse, the kangaroo rat and the white-tailed antelope squirrel are weathering the hotter, drier conditions triggered by climate change much better than their winged counterparts, finds a new study published today in
Science.
Over the past century, climate change has continuously nudged the Mojave s searing summer temperatures ever higher, and the blazing heat has taken its toll on the desert s birds. Researchers have documented a collapse in the region s bird populations, likely resulting from many bird species inability to withstand these new hotter temperatures
SAN DIEGO
In the struggle to survive the ever hotter deserts of California, there are winners and losers.
Among the losers are desert birds, whose populations have collapsed amid the heat stress of climate change. The winners, it turns out, are small burrowing mammals, including the cactus mouse, kangaroo rat and white-tailed antelope squirrel, which take refuge from the sun underground.
Researchers, including scientists from the San Diego Natural History Museum, published those results in the journal Science this month, noting that the stable mammal populations formed a hopeful contrast to the dire condition of birds.
“Why was the mammal community relatively stable compared to the bird community?” asked study co-author Lori Hargrove, an ecologist at the San Diego Natural History Museum. “Birds had a higher evaporative heat loss. Birds were more exposed to the effects of warming, so they had higher energy costs to maintain their body temperature, whereas mammals were
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In the struggle to survive the ever hotter deserts of California, there are winners and losers.
Among the losers are desert birds, whose populations have collapsed amid the heat stress of climate change. The winners, it turns out, are small burrowing mammals, including the the cactus mouse, kangaroo rat and white-tailed antelope squirrel, which take refuge from the sun underground.
Researchers, including scientists from the San Diego Natural History Museum, published those results in the journal Science this month, noting that the stable mammal populations formed a hopeful contrast to the dire condition of birds.
“Why was the mammal community relatively stable compared to the bird community?” asked study co-author Lori Hargrove, an ecologist at the San Diego Natural History Museum. “Birds had a higher evaporative heat loss. Birds were more exposed to the effects of warming, so they had higher energy costs to maintain their body temperature, whereas mammals were able t
E-Mail
IMAGE: A sage thrasher perches on a shrub near Kelleys Well in Inyo County, California. The Mojave Desert s bird populations have been hit hard by climate change, but a new study. view more
Credit: Chelsea Hofmeier photo
Berkeley In the arid Mojave Desert, small burrowing mammals like the cactus mouse, the kangaroo rat and the white-tailed antelope squirrel are weathering the hotter, drier conditions triggered by climate change much better than their winged counterparts, finds a new study published today in
Science.
Over the past century, climate change has continuously nudged the Mojave s searing summer temperatures ever higher, and the blazing heat has taken its toll on the desert s birds. Researchers have documented a collapse in the region s bird populations, likely resulting from many bird species inability to withstand these new hotter temperatures