Extreme heat harms forest-dwelling bird chicks more than city ones frontiersin frontiersin
To investigate such effects, Pipoly and her colleagues installed hundreds of nest boxes in two Hungarian cities and also in nearby forests . During the timeframe of 2013 to 2018, the team observed a total of 760 broods, measuring the size of the two-week old nestlings and their survival.
Even though there were more hot days and higher temperatures inside the cities, these nestlings were relatively unaffected, or even showed slight benefits. Forest nestlings however were smaller and less likely to survive as the number of extremely hot days increased .These surprising results prompt many questions about whether these trends will hold true for other species and locations.
It is also unknown how these populations respond to the opposite—extreme cold—and it may be that improved heat tolerance has compromised urban birds' cold resistance. Although the mechanisms aren't yet clear, these results highlight the fragility of natural populations and the need to better understand and protect them.
"We could hear about more frequent mass mortality events of wild desert birds, bats and even large herbivores nowadays, which could be a consequence of the vulnerability of natural populations to high temperatures," added Pipoly.events, like the ones we found in great tits, and from several populations with different local environments. Then we can see a more detailed picture of the interactive effects of climate change and urbanization on wildlife and biodiversity.
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