Bird habitats are being affected by global warming, with birds moving into colder, higher altitudes, a National Taiwan University expert said.
A research team headed by Institute of Ecological and Evolutionary Biology director Lee Pei-fen (李培芬) has demonstrated that birds are adapting to global warming and have begun building their nests at higher altitudes.
Conducting research at Yushan (玉山), 3,000km above sea level, Lee and his team discovered that the nesting grounds of the 13 types of birds dwelling between 2,100m and 3,700m above sea level climbed an average of 42.9m between 1992 and 2006.
The area of distribution also rose 33.7m during that same period, Lee said.
The area of distribution for white browed bush robins saw a significant increase, Lee said, adding that the robins’ area of distribution went from 3,182m to 3,454m, a rise of 272m.
The streak-throated fulvetta’s area of distribution went from 3,258m to 3,401m, a rise of 143m, he said.
The migration of middling altitude birds into higher altitude areas would compress the living area, foraging and food resources available to birds originally at higher altitudes, the research team found, adding that migrating outsiders are usually more forceful so the new arrivals could displace the original inhabitants or become dominant.
The new migrants have caused the population of the Formosan laughing thrush and four other species to fall, with the laughing thrushs’ area of distribution decreasing by 9m.
However, birds are not the only living things affected by global warming, said Allen Chen (陳昭倫), an associate research fellow at the Biodiversity Research Center at Academia Sinica, noting that corals were also “migrating.”
Coral bleaching is suspected to be the result of greenhouse gas by-products, such as rising sea temperatures and levels, and pH changes from ocean acidification.
Chen said that Asian records place the Pavona Cactus coral, which is found along the northern latitude, 25o off Taiwan’s Yehliu (野柳) and Bitou Cape (鼻頭角) as far as the Ryukyu Islands, which are on the same latitude as Yehliu.
However, during a Japanese survey in 2000, Pavona Cactus coral was found in the Wakayamal region in Japan, along the 35th northern latitude, Chen said.
Corals also moved to a higher altitude to survive, Chen said.
Chou Chang-hung (周昌弘), an Academia Sinica specialist in plant ecology and -phytochemical ecology, said plants are migrating as well because of global warming.
Chou said the area of distribution of Bigseed Swertia, a herb used in traditional Chinese medicine, moved higher by 800m from 1909 to 1991, and the area of distribution of the herb Diversifolious Hemiphragma moved down 249m from 1970 to 1999.
Plant seeds are scattered by the wind and are therefore more complex in their ecological makeup, Chou said, adding that the move to lower altitudes could not be definitely categorized as a result of global warming, though seeds are tending to go for higher altitudes because of global warming.
More worryingly, plants at the highest altitudes have nowhere to go and could become extinct, Chou said.
TRANSLATED BY JAKE CHUNG, STAFF WRITER
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday voiced dissatisfaction with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans- Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), whose latest meeting, concluded earlier the same day, appeared not to address the country’s application. In a statement, MOFA said the CPTPP commission had "once again failed to fairly process Taiwan’s application," attributing the inaction to the bloc’s "succumbing to political pressure," without elaborating. Taiwan submitted its CPTPP application under the name "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu" on Sept. 22, 2021 -- less than a week after China
THE GOOD WORD: More than 100 colleges on both sides of the Pacific will work together to bring students to Taiwan so they can learn Mandarin where it is spoken A total of 102 universities from Taiwan and the US are collaborating in a push to promote Taiwan as the first-choice place to learn Mandarin, with seven Mandarin learning centers stood up in the US to train and support teachers, the Foundation for International Cooperation in Higher Education of Taiwan (FICHET) said. At the annual convention of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages held over the weekend in New Orleans, Louisiana, a Taiwan Pavilion was jointly run by 17 representative teams from the FICHET, the Overseas Community Affairs Council, the Steering Committee for the Test of Proficiency-Huayu, the
A home-style restaurant opened by a Taiwanese woman in Quezon City in Metro Manila has been featured in the first-ever Michelin Guide honoring exceptional restaurants in the Philippines. The restaurant, Fong Wei Wu (豐味屋), was one of 74 eateries to receive a “Michelin Selected” honor in the guide, while one restaurant received two Michelin stars, eight received one star and 25 were awarded a “Bib Gourmand.” The guide, which was limited to restaurants in Metro Manila and Cebu, was published on Oct. 30. In an interview, Feng Wei Wu’s owner and chef, Linda, said that as a restaurateur in her 60s, receiving an
MORE RETALIATION: China would adopt a long-term pressure strategy to prevent other countries or future prime ministers following in Sanae Takaichi’s steps, an academic said Taiwan should maintain communications with Japan, as Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is to lead a revision of security documents, Taiwanese academics said yesterday. Tensions have risen between Japan and China over remarks by Takaichi earlier this month that the use of force against Taiwan would constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan. Prospect Foundation president Lai I-chung (賴怡忠) yesterday said Takaichi’s stance regarding Taiwan is the same as past Japanese prime ministers, but her position is clearer than that of her predecessors Fumio Kishida and Shigeru Ishiba. Although Japan views a “Taiwan contingency” as a “survival-threatening situation,” which would allow its military to
RSS