Publications by authors named "Jonathan D Mays"
Decoupling of bird migration from the changing phenology of spring green-up.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
March 2024
The green-up of vegetation in spring brings a pulse of food resources that many animals track during migration. However, green-up phenology is changing with climate change, posing an immense challenge for species that time their migrations to coincide with these resource pulses. We evaluated changes in green-up phenology from 2002 to 2021 in relation to the migrations of 150 Western-Hemisphere bird species using eBird citizen science data.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClimate change and land-use change are leading drivers of biodiversity decline, affecting demographic parameters that are important for population persistence. For example, scientists have speculated for decades that climate change may skew adult sex ratios in taxa that express temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD), but limited evidence exists that this phenomenon is occurring in natural settings. For species that are vulnerable to anthropogenic land-use practices, differential mortality among sexes may also skew sex ratios.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- Climate change is impacting wildlife thermoregulation by altering vegetation structure, which affects thermal landscapes.
- Different vegetation management strategies can lead to significant consequences for how species, like the turtle Terrapene carolina triunguis, choose their habitats based on temperature variations.
- Turtles prefer areas that provide thermal buffering during extreme temperatures, showing a clear need for landscape management that fosters diverse vegetation to support wildlife under climate stress.