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solonavi 21 June 2007 Endangered & Extinction, General, Global Warming, Habitat 168 views No Comment Print This Post  Email This Post

guardian.co.uk

Spring is arriving in the Arctic weeks earlier than it did a decade ago, according to a long-term survey of life in the far north’s landscape. Rising temperatures are causing snow to melt sooner than before, extending the summer period and dramatically disrupting the fragile ecosystem, scientists said.

The change in the seasons – one of the most rapid examples of climate change – was discovered by researchers who observed familiar spring patterns over 10 years. They recorded a clear shift in the time of year plants came into flower, birds laid their first eggs and insects and other creatures emerged to forage for food.

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Wading birds, including sanderlings, ruddy turnstones and dunlins, which migrate to breeding grounds in the Arctic began laying eggs between a week and 10 days earlier, while some insects emerged more than a month earlier. Some plants, including the arctic poppy and arctic heather, flowered three weeks earlier.

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Recent studies have shown spring advancements of 5.1 days per decade for animals and plants around the world, and 2.5 days a decade for European plants. The trends are likely to be even more sharply defined in the Arctic, which is regarded by climate change scientists as one of the most sensitive environments on Earth. Warming at the high latitudes is almost twice that witnessed in more temperate regions.

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The new Arctic data included the flowering dates of six plant species, the emergence dates of 12 species of arthropod – the animal family with jointed legs which includes insects and spiders – and the egg-laying dates of three bird species.

The study reveals that many arctic species are able to adapt quickly to the changing climate – which could have both negative and positive consequences. “In one respect this is positive, because the summer season has been lengthened. But the question is whether these species are moving into parts of the season where they will not be well adapted,” said Dr Hoye, whose study appears in the journal Current Biology.

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Another threat to the unique life of the Arctic circle comes from species in warmer areas just to the south. As the Arctic warms and becomes more habitable, these species are likely to push further north, putting them in conflict with native species. “This is a much more serious concern. The arctic species could be out-competed and they can’t move much further north – there’s nowhere else to go,” said Dr Hoye.