[Animals] Animals adapt to climate changes, but slowly

[SnO]

Can animals adapt to climate change? According to a new scientific study conducted by researchers from Germany based on a careful analysis of ten thousand previous studies, the answer is: Yes, animals may be able to adapt, but at a slow pace, which does not guarantee their continued existence in light of the rapid warming that the Earth is experiencing today.

 

The issue of the impact of climate change on various living organisms is extremely important for the Earth and its future.

It was and still is home to millions of species, some of which evolved and others became extinct at a time when other species had to adapt to successive dramatic changes in climate that took place over the past 500 million years.

Some extinctions are associated with changes
The rapid warming we are experiencing today, caused by the excessive use of fossil fuels, heralds an important shift in climatic conditions.

It seems to coincide with the beginning of a mass extinction similar to previous extinctions associated with changes in the global climate at different periods of Earth's history.

The current climate change is characterized by its rapid pace compared to previous changes, so scientists wonder whether living organisms in general and animals that cannot be migrated to cold climates in particular can adapt to the changing conditions?

The latest scientific studies that attempted to provide an answer to this question were conducted by scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Animal and Wildlife Research in Berlin, in cooperation with sixty researchers from all over the world, and were published in the journal Nature Communications last July.

Extensive study
In this study, scientists searched for evidence of physiological or behavioral changes in some animals, or in their size, to accommodate the rise in temperatures and the requirements of adaptation with the changing time of the seasons. Biologists call this type of response "phenomenological change."

Questions like these can't be easily answered, so the scientists gathered temperature data from reliable records at a number of sites, adding precise information about the timing of migration, reproduction, hibernation and other major events in the lives of some animal species over several years.

They also analyzed the results of previous studies in which data were collected on species living in the same environment over many generations.

In this study, the researchers sought to search for changes in the traits of the selected species, and to consider whether these changes led to higher levels of survival or increased reproduction rates, and in the end they were able to find reliable information on 17 species. of animals in 13 countries.

Most of the data the scientists found came from previous studies of birds, including common species such as the great tit, European magpie or reed flycatcher, as well as a species of turtle that lives in the Mississippi River and various types of mammals.

Slow adaptation
At the end of the study, the scientists concluded that birds can adapt to their environmental conditions when climatic changes occur, but they may not be able to do so quickly enough for migrations to coincide with the onset of spring flowering, which occurs prematurely from year to year, or to nest at the same time as Insects are the main food source for their young.

"Even populations of birds that undergo adaptive change do so at a pace that does not guarantee continuity," said study co-author Alexander Kurtoli of the Leibniz Institute. "The available data applies to species known to be well adapted to changing conditions."

The study authors say the adaptive responses of rare or endangered species have yet to be analysed, and they fear that the prospects for the survival of these species may be more pessimistic.

 

https://www.aljazeera.net/science/2019/8/20/الحيوانات-تتأقلم-مع-التغيرات