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NATURAL environments
HOT, HOTTER, GONE?
THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON DESERT BIRDS
Deserts are some of the world’s most fascinating ecosystems. However, extreme temperatures and scarce rainfall make these regions highly sensitive to climate change. The risk posed by global warming calls for an urgent and concerted effort by scientists, conservationists and managers.
Diverse animals eke out an existence in harsh, inhospitable desert environments, bending the rules of chemistry and physics in remarkable ways to survive and reproduce. But life in deserts is tenuous, and rising temperatures associated with climate
change will dramatically affect the inhabitants of arid regions. Recent heat waves in Australia, for example, have led to catastrophic mortality events during which thousands of birds have perished in a matter of hours on extremely hot days.
Members of UP’s Department of Zoology and Entomology are involved in a collaborative
research programme that seeks to understand the consequences of climate change for birds that inhabit the world’s deserts. The ‘Hot Birds Project’ came into being in 2009. Since then, it has expanded into a
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Burchell’s Sandgrouse – Ben Smit
