Bird population plummets in pinon forests pummeled by climate-change

A nice article in Audubon magazine on our recent article documenting a large decrease in bird individuals and avian species in areas of pinion tree mortality over a decade. The paper was published in the October 2018 issue of Biological Conservation. While the results are stark and sobering, it was good to get this data out with the possible scenarios on the table now for losing the majority of conifer forests in the Southwest. Normally, wildlife communities naturally change with changing habitats. But now more large-scale and drastic changes in Southwestern forests may be on our horizon. Photo is a Plumbeous vireo (Vireo plumbeus) taken by C. Hathcock, one of the co-authors.