islands – Field Talk

Seasonality and climate change

liza — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 21:29:22 +0000

Rising temperatures as a result of climate change promise to alter the behaviors of temperature-sensitive organisms. But climate change is also affecting the timing of seasons, which can throw off the alarm clock for critical behaviors, such as breeding. In this edition of Field Talk, we speak with Shaye Wolf, a biologist at the Center for Biological Diversity in San Francisco. Her research, published in the March issue of Ecology, tracks the reproductive behaviors of a small seabird, Cassin’s Auklet, on islands from Alaska to Mexico. She explains that climate change affects different populations in different ways, but could have dire consequences for those that rely heavily on consistent seasonality.

To fly or not to fly? Diving birds shun air travel

liza — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:22:28 +0000

The ability to fly is one of the most significant adaptations in animal history. Some birds, however, have opted out of flying – evolutionarily speaking. In this installment of Field Talk, we catch up with Dr. Rory Wilson, a professor of aquatic biology at the University of Swansea. His paper in the November issue of Ecological Monographs examines the Galápagos cormorant, an aquatic bird that hunts seafloor prey off the coasts of the islands where it makes its home. Wilson and his colleagues find that the peculiar conditions on and around the islands has led to the loss of flight in these cormorants, a trade-off that gives these birds better diving ability.