Bird populations in the tropics have dropped by roughly a third (25-38 percent) since 1980 due to intensifying heat extremes, compared to a world without climate change, with some species having declined in abundance by over 50 percent, according to new study published today in Nature Ecology and Evolution with contributions from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), the University of Queensland and Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC).

“It’s a staggering decrease. Birds are particularly sensitive to dehydration and heat stress. Extreme heat drives excess mortality, reduced fertility, changing breeding behaviours and reduced offspring survival,” commented lead author Maximilian Kotz, a guest researcher at PIK and researcher at BSC.

According to the study, tropical b

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