The yellow-billed hornbill, a cousin of Zazu’s favorite fan of The Lion King, is facing extinction due to extreme weather. Researchers have investigated the effects of high temperatures and droughts on the successful breeding of southern yellow-billed hornbills in the Kalahari Desert between 2008 and 2019. This is the first study to be conducted on the impact of climate change on the success of human reproduction. a long time ago.The weather problem makes the weather worse, such as high temperatures and the droughts associated with dry areas.
Animals living in these regions are already suffering from the effects. For example, previous studies have shown that the breeding success of many bird species is influenced by the hot climate. They breed early and short.”There is growing evidence of adverse effects of high temperatures on the behavior, behavior, reproduction and survival of species of birds, mammals and reptiles around the world,” says first author Dr. Nicholas Pattinson, University of Cape Town. City.
“For example, fatal heat-related events over the course of a few days are increasingly being recorded, which undoubtedly pose a threat to human resilience and ecosystem function.”Pattinson and colleagues have studied whether the rapid warming of the climate contributed to the successful breeding of the southern yellow-bill hornbill, a bird in the arid region, over a period of 10 years. The study was published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution.
Yellow-bill hornbill
The southern yellow-billed hornbill distribution covers most of southern Africa, with much of it crossing the Kalahari Desert. It is thought that their population is declining.Known for breeding and breeding nests, the southern yellow-billed hornbill is a solitary species. They are nests in holes; The female locks herself in a nest box and stays there for an average of 50 days to incubate and care for the chicks. The only hole is a small dry hole, where the male feeds the female and the chicks.This type of breeding is very protective of the animals, which means that breeding success depends largely on other factors such as climate and food availability. For example, yellow-billed hornbills begin to reproduce due to rain, which coincides with the hottest days of the year. This makes it difficult for them to change breeding days without the hottest times.
Demographic decline
Pattinson and his team learned about the population of the southern-yellow-billed hornbill in the Kuruman River Reserve south of the Kalahari Desert in South Africa between 2008 and 2019. Data were collected specifically for breeding pairs in wooden nest boxes. They measure the success of breeding with wide and good scales (long-term habits and individual breeding efforts, respectively). The team also analyzed the climate trends in the region.
The results showed that the breeding output decreased during the monitoring period (2008-2019) due to an increase in air temperature.”During surveillance, the deadly effects of high temperatures (including improper diet, supply, and weight loss) reduce the chances of successful hornbill breeding or breeding at all,” explains Pattinson.
When comparing the first three seasons (between 2008 and 2011) to the last three (between 2016 and 2019), researchers found that the average percentage of human nest boxes dropped from 52% to 12%, nest success (successful breeding and flight of at least one chick) decreased from 58% to 17%, while the average number of chicks produced by trying to breed decreased from 1.1 to 0.4.
No successful breeding efforts were recorded above the air temperature of 35.7 ° C. Breeding was negatively associated with the growing days when high air temperature exceeded the limit where hornbills exhibit heat-releasing behavior as well as normal breeding behavior. These effects were present even in non-drought years.
Extreme emergency weather
Research shows how fast a climate problem can have serious consequences for loving species in a very short time. Current temperature forecasts in the study area indicate that the hornbill threshold for successful breeding will exceed the entire breeding season by about 2027.”Most public perceptions of climate change are related to the conditions calculated by 2050 and beyond,” Pattinson continued. “Yet the effects of the climate crisis are now and are not just visible in our lives, but even more than a decade.”
“Despite the absence of major mortality events, our prediction in this study is that southern hornbills could be removed from the hottest parts of their list as soon as 2027.””The deadly effects of high temperatures could lead to environmental degradation leading to employment failure (i.e., no small animals joining humans) and changes to the ecosystem we all rely on.”
Source Journal Reference: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (2022). DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.842264 , www.frontiersin.org/articles/1 … evo.2022.842264/full
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