(This post is really from me, unlike the one distributed earlier this week from a spammer who hijacked my old email address)
Last week Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar released<http://stateofthebirds.org>the State of the Birds USA 2010 Report on Climate Change which was produced by a highly prestigious multi-organizational partnership under the auspices of the U.S. NABCI Committee (Committee). Built on the 2009 State of the Birds Report that was led by the National Audubon Society, this year’s report is built around a climate change vulnerability analysis of all the Nation’s birds. The lead agency this year is the U.S.Fish & Wildlife Service with the following partners: American Bird Conservancy, Assoc. of Fish & Wildlife Agencies, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Klamath Bird Observatory, *National Audubon Society, *The National Fish & Wildlife Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, U.S.D.A Forest Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the U. S. Geological Survey. This Report plus information on the methodology utilized is available at http://stateofthebirds.org Following are highlights from the report that are specific to Colorado birds. ”Birds in every terrestrial and aquatic habitat will be affected by climate change, although individual species in each habitat are likely to respond differently.” So they rate groups of species by their level of vulnerability. They found, not surprisingly, that those species that are already considered as 'species of concern' are at higher vulnerability from climate change and that finding was true for species in all habitats not just those habitats that are themselves most vulnerable. --Alpine and Arctic species are highly vulnerable to climate change. As the climate warms, trees and vegetation will narrow or eliminate alpine breeding habitat for White-tailed Ptarmigan. I have read that there are some studies that have already found negative impacts from climate change on this species which can go no further up the mountain peaks as trees are slowly climbing higher up where they have never been found before. Sharing that high alpine habitat and vulnerability are Brown-capped Rosy-Finches, a species many who live in mountain locations have coming to their feeders. --Wetland breeding species--”A third of the 165 wetland breeding species in the United States show medium or high vulnerability to climate change.” Sadly so many of our historic wetlands have been degraded or destroyed so there is already a serious reduction in healthy wetland habitat. Wetland bird species known to breed in our area include Western and Clark's Grebes, Northern Harrier, Virginia and Sora Rail. --Grassland species—Though not listed as having species at high vulnerability to climate change, well over half are thought to be at medium vulnerability. Species such as Greater/Gunnison Sage-Grouse and Lesser Prairie-Chicken are already in serious trouble and climate change will only add to the risks for these species. --”Forest birds show greater resilience than birds in most habitats”--but many at medium vulnerability. SeEtta Moss Canon City http://BirdsAndNature.blogspot.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds". To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en?hl=en Visit the CFO Website at: www.cfo-link.org
