Phi Beta Delta: Earth Day - Professor Jay Mager: Birds and Global Warming

For Earth Day, Phi Beta Delta sponsored a talk by Dr. jay Mager on the effect of global warming on migratory birds. Titled " A Bird's Eye View on Global Warming," major told the audience how global warming might affect worldwide bird populations if left unchecked.

Report by Alexandra Habbouche

In Dr. Mager's lecture, we learned about the various bird species that are being affected by global warming. Although we do not notice a drastic change as humans, the bird populations are undergoing changes that may lead to the extinction of many species of birds. There are 9,787 bird species currently known and cataloged and nearly 21% of them are near extinction or are on endangered species lists. This is due to many reasons related to global warming and the melting of the polar icecaps.

The emission of “greenhouse gases” by humans is a leading cause of the global temperature rising because the carbon creates a sort of barrier which prevents heat from escaping the atmosphere after is reflects off the earth. This entrapment of heat leads to an overall warming effect, much like a sauna, which keeps the heat circulating in our air. The air warms the ice caps, causing them to melt and, in certain areas, the water level to rise, while at other points it causes the water already present to evaporate, causing a decrease in water levels in other areas.

One connection that was made for quite a few birds was that of indirect effects. The water levels change and the temperatures change making the habitat of certain microorganisms and various types of prey less livable than previously, diminishing the food source of the birds in question. With the lack of available food, the populations of birds which eat the diminishing prey no longer have the available resources necessary for survival and reproduction. It falls to a sort of “cascade effect” in that when something affects a certain aspect of a population the food chain that that organism is a part of becomes disturbed and cascades into a negative affect on the ecosystem as a whole.

Other animals rely on larger animals, such as polar bears, to obtain their food. Scavengers, such as the ivory gull, wait for a polar bear to finish feeding and then pick at the remainder of the carcass from the polar bear’s meal. With the number of polar bears decreasing due to the melting of their natural habitat, we are seeing a decrease in the number of ivory gulls and other scavenger birds because their food is becoming more and more scarce. The interdependence of the various animals is critical in an ecosystem and each need the other for survival and nutrition for reproductive success.

Although humans are not as affected by global warming in the same way other creatures are affects, one can see a drastic change in the wintering pattern of migratory birds. The areas of migration during the winter months has shifted north by hundreds of miles in only 40 years. This shows that in order for the birds to reach their primal breeding grounds, the birds must travel farther north to obtain the resources necessary for reproduction and survival. Birds are also leaving much earlier than before to head to their winter habitats. Altitudinal shifts are also a cause of distress because while certain birds are able to move up, some birds are as far north as they are able to go and are being out-competed for resources in the land, putting them at a risk of becoming extinct in the near future.

There are many aspects that involve the upkeep of an ecosystem. Man could insert certain things within the ecosystem to sustain a certain species or population, however, an entire shift would be created that would need to be sustained through different means. This artificial sustainment would only lead to more danger to the environment, therefore the ecosystems must be self-sustaining and not artificially maintained. It all comes down to what the bird species need to survive and reproduce because without those necessities, they will eventually all face a similar doom and become extinct.