Study: Climate change reduces the size of birds and increases the length of their wings
Study: Climate change reduces the size of birds and increases the length of their wings
Study: Climate change reduces the size of birds and increases the length of their wings
Findings from a new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences PNAS, reveal that across the Americas, bird sizes have become smaller and longer-winged as the planet has warmed, while the sizes of smaller species have changed faster.
The study showed that the body size of birds decreased widely with simultaneous increases in wing length, and this process occurred relatively faster in smaller bird species.
Research has shown that smaller species tend to have faster changes in body size and shape than larger species, due to their higher reproductive rates and faster reproductive times.
The new study says: The shrinkage of the bodies of some bird species is directly caused by the increase in temperatures over the past 40 years, which indicates that body size may be an important determinant of species responses to climate change.
