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As Earth’s climate warms and local temperatures and precipitation patterns change, plants and animals move to stay within their zones of preferred temperature and moisture levels. Obviously, animals can move much more readily than plants, which can only move generation-by-generation as their seeds are spread by winds, water and the more mobile animals. A particular [...]

2012 was the warmest year on record for the contiguous United States.  Globally, it was the ninth (by NASA estimates) or tenth warmest (by NOAA estimates).  2012 was also the 36th year in a row where the average global temperature was above the 20th century average. The recent 30-40 year warming trend is obvious on [...]

Climate change means geographic changes in the distribution of certain temperature and moisture conditions. Because most species are optimized to live within specific climate conditions, a mobile species will try to track these conditions as they expand, contract or shift to the north/south or uphill/ downhill. Less mobile species may adjust their life cycles or [...]

On the other side of the Great Lakes in Ontario, Canada live two species of flying squirrel, the northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus) and the southern flying squirrel (Glaucomys volans). These two species inhabit more northerly and southerly ranges, respectively. Climate change means geographic changes in the distribution of temperature and moisture conditions. Because most [...]

In Brief: In the eastern United States, the recent warming trend and the pause in minimum winter temperature rise since 1995 are causing diverse responses among bird species, with an overall increase in bird diversity and a decline in body size being two observed effects. Because they are highly mobile, birds’ ranges are often suggested [...]

In Brief: Warmer winter temperatures in the western United States compared to the 1960s are prompting American kestrels to adopt wintering grounds closer to their nesting grounds. This enables them to more quickly return and compete for nesting sites and mates in the spring. The highly mobile nature of birds compared to reptiles and even [...]

In Brief: Humans have been intentionally setting fire to the landscapes of the South for over 12,000 years, directly influencing the evolution of the region’s ecosystems and obscuring the role that climate variability has played over the same period. People have been intentionally setting fire to the ecosystems of the southeastern United States for the [...]

In Brief: Sedimentary records from the Nile River delta tell the story of the 7,000 years of climate variability that occurred in that region. The world’s longest river with one of the largest watersheds, the Nile River collects runoff from the surrounding northeast African landscape. By the time the flow reaches the Mediterranean Sea, it [...]

In Brief: Unlike the relationship with spring migration, the relationship between climate and autumn migration is more complex. Observations from eastern North America show trends in delayed autumn migration along with rising autumn temperatures. Different species of birds likely use a variety of different environmental cues to know when to start their spring and autumn [...]

In Brief: Later leaf change/leaf drop in autumn, particularly in the Southeast, Central and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States, has contributed to the overall 9.6 day increase in the Northern Hemisphere’s green season since the early 1980s. In general, plants want to remain green for as long as possible: the longer the period of [...]

Living organic matter has its origins in the atmosphere: energy from the Sun enables plants and some microbes to build sugars out of water and atmospheric carbon dioxide. These sugars ultimately feed the rest of life on Earth. When an organism, or a part of an organism such as a leaf, dies, it decomposes and [...]

In Brief: Rising temperatures in Yosemite National Park have cut the area with tolerable temperatures for the alpine chipmunk, resulting in genetic diversity losses and increased vulnerability to environmental change. Genetic diversity, having lots of different members within a population with different characteristics, is important for keeping any species alive. This is particularly true during [...]

In Brief: Avalanche frequency in Glacier National Park is influenced by snowpack, which is in turn influenced by water temperature distributions in the Pacific Ocean. Disturbances such as wildfires, windstorms, disease and insect outbreaks and severe floods are important processes in the ecosystems of the western United States. Disturbances help establish a diversity of vegetation [...]

Mosquitoes have existed in the same basic form for at least 76 million years and have spread to every continent except Antarctica. What’s the secret to their success? Mosquitoes are one of the few insects that routinely lay eggs and mature in small, transient bodies of water, such as tree cavities and even hoof prints. [...]

Globally, wildfires affect an average of 1.4 million square miles of land each year. Fire has been an important factor in terrestrial ecosystem development and dynamics for at least 400 million years. Savanna ecosystems, found mostly in Africa between the tropical rainforest and desert ecosystems, burn the most, contributing 47.8 percent of the global dry [...]

The Yoshino Cherry Trees that surround the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC were a gift from Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo City to signify friendship between the United States and Japan. 2012 marks the 100th anniversary of their arrival. The cherry blossoms also signify the arrival of spring. Whereas in many other plant species the [...]

Shifts in temperature related to climate change cause species to shift their favored territories, the seasonal timing of their activities and physiological traits including body size. As a given location becomes warmer, a population of warm-blooded animals such as mammals become: a)    bigger over successive generations. b)    smaller over successive generations. The correct answer is [...]

Plants take carbon out of the air and combine it with water to build their bodies, releasing oxygen as a bi-product, which sustains animals and humans. On land, plants like trees, grasses and shrubs, do most of the carbon uptake while in the oceans most of the job is done by microscopic, photosynthetic organisms called [...]

The Northeast United States has experienced a particularly mild 2011-2012 winter, with the region’s average January temperature 4.7 degrees Fahrenheit above normal. Vermont was the warm spot, coming in at 6.2 degrees Fahrenheit above normal. This mild winter, however, appears to be part of a longer-term, 50-year trend of warming winter temperatures. The average winter [...]

In Brief: Warmer winter temperatures are allowing the Purple Finch to winter 433 miles farther north than it did in the 1960s. Observers during recent annual Audubon Christmas Bird Counts are noticing different birds in their local areas during the winter months than observers did in the 1960s. Between 1966 and 2005, significant northward movement [...]