lable at ScienceDirect

Animal Behaviour 81 (2011) 887–888

Contents lists avai

Animal Behaviour

journal homepage: www.elsevier .com/locate/anbehav

Book Review

Effects of Climate Change on Birds. Edited by Anders PapeMøller, Wolfgang Fiedler & Peter Berthold. Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press (2010). Pp. xD321. Price £65 hardback, £34.95paperback.

Onemight be forgiven a certain sense of déjà vu in that the samethree authors edited a volume with a very similar title only a fewyears ago (Møller et al. 2004). That book contained 11 chapters,the present one 20: perhaps a reflection of the way in whichresearchers are increasingly trying to understand the deep andfar-reaching effects that climate change may have on biologicalsystems. In part because of the relative ease with which they arestudied, the abundance of long-term data and the, sometimesdeep, public resonance, more research has been conducted on birdsthan on any other taxa. Indeed, changes in bird nesting phenologywere among the first well-documented biological impacts ofchanging climates (Crick et al. 1997). The question of whether birdsform a useful proxy for other taxa, though, is not one that isaddressed here.

Despite the wide range of topics covered, there is much here tointerest students of animal behaviour. In fact the broad coverage isa strength, bringing together as it does a good selection of theleading researchers in the area (although these are exclusivelyfrom Europe (25) or North America (6)), so almost everyone isguaranteed to find something new. The scene is set by a usefulchapter on the nature of the changing climate; written by twoleading climatologists, it highlights that increasing temperaturesare far from the whole story and the interconnectedness ofregional climate systems. There then follow six chapters on therange of methodologies used to investigate climate changeimpacts. These aim to take a critical look at the methods and theirimplementation, but as the space allotted is necessarily brief, 6–10pages each, they achieve this with mixed success. Nevertheless,they should increase awareness of the tools in the box, and it isnice to see recognition that methods are important, particularlyin an area where research has the potential to be the focus ofboth public and policy attention.

About two-thirds of the book is taken up by 11 chaptersdescribing the range of biological effects and impacts of climatechange. From the behavioural point of view, these include changesin migratory and breeding behaviour, changes in the relationshipbetween consumers and prey, and consequently foraging behav-iour, and in the action of sexual selection. One of the challengeswe are faced with is that many of the impacts are likely to be indi-rect; ornithologists will need to become botanists and entomolo-gists, or at least collaborate with them, if they are to comprehendfully the range of impacts. This is perhaps best demonstrated bythe excellent chapter summarizing research on the potential formistiming of breeding. In fact, changes in the timing of seasonal

0003-3472/$38.00 2011 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published bdoi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2011.01.031

activity (either breeding or migration) seem by far the mostpopular topics of study, driven in part, perhaps, by the availabilityof long-term data. Although such data sets are often necessarilyanalysed without regard to sex (or presumably other classifiers),as Spottiswoode et al. describe in their thought-provoking chapteron sexual selection, it would be unwise to assume that climatechange processes will affect individuals equally. Given theemphasis on timing of events, the potential importance of carry-over effects (events in one season affecting individual fitness ina later one) seems to have been overlooked, yet newmethodologiesmean this is likely to become a key research area (Harrison et al.2011).

While we are not lacking in potential mechanisms by whichchanging climate might affect avian behaviour, integrating theseto determine likely population consequences is a bigger challenge,elegantly addressed by Saether & Engen. This is true not only interms of interactions between different mechanisms, but also interms of spatial heterogeneity of processes. Many studies arecarried out in good-quality habitat where research subjects arecommon; yet, as one or two authors point out, the most immediateand greatest impacts may be in poorer quality habitats, exacer-bating gradients in reproductive success and survival. In fact, thisinteraction between habitat and climate change is critical. In theabsence of global agreements to limit carbon emissions, as thechapter byMiller-Rushing describes, much will have to be achievedusing traditional conservation techniques, for example by main-taining ‘good’, ‘connected’ habitat and ‘large’ population sizes. Buthow should climate change alter our response to the, perhapsmore immediate, threats posed by habitat destruction and degra-dation? A certain amount of change is inevitable, for examplegeneralists will probably prosper, while specialist species are likelyto suffer, but should we contemplate different methods, such asspecies translocations or captive breeding for the most vulnerable?If so, what will the consequences be, both intended and unin-tended? To answer such questions, behaviourists, ecologists andmodellers will need to combine their knowledge to provide inte-grative population models that will allow different scenarios tobe explored.

As the editors highlight in their summary chapter, there aremany projections of change; predictions of change are, unsurpris-ingly, much more uncertain. In reality it is not actually predictionsthat are required, rather information (in appropriate formats) thatwill enable conservation managers and policy makers to makeinformed decisions when it comes to managing habitats and land-scapes. In commendably brief form, the authors and editors haveprovided a very useful introduction to the burgeoning literaturein this area that should appeal as much to the ‘just interested’ asto the specialist who perhaps hasn’t had as much time as theywould like to keep abreast of it. There are many challenges ahead;

y Elsevier Ltd.

Book Review / Animal Behaviour 81 (2011) 887–888888

this volume provides a valuable waypoint for those embarking onanswering them.

Rob RobinsonBritish Trust for Ornithology,

The Nunnery, Thetford,Norfolk IP24 2PU, U.K.

References

Crick, H. Q. P., Dudley, C., Glue, D. E. & Thomson, D. L. 1997. UK birds are layingeggs earlier. Nature, 388, 526.

Harrison, X. A., Blount, J. D., Inger, R., Norris, D. R. & Bearhop, S. 2011. Carry-overeffects asdriversoffitnessdifferences inanimals. Journal ofAnimalEcology,80, 4–18.

Møller, A. P., Fiedler, W. & Berthold, P. 2004. Birds and Climate Change. Amster-dam: Academic Press.