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18 Jan 2012: Warming Temperatures Help
Trumpeter Swans Thrive, Study Says

The trumpeter swan, nearly hunted to extinction across much of North America during the 19th century, has experienced a strong resurgence with the help of a warming climate, U.S. researchers say. The large bird, which depends on long summers for breeding, has expanded its summer range northward since the late 1960s into habitat that had previously been inaccessible, according to a new study published in the journal Wildlife Biology. The swan, which can have an 8-foot wingspan, requires 145 ice-free days to adequately raise its young. With warming temperatures, particularly in Alaska and northern Canada, the birds are gaining more nesting habitat than they are losing, researchers say. “In warmer periods, there are more pairs observed occupying the summer breeding habitat than in colder periods,” said Joshua Schmidt, a wildlife biologist with the National Park Service and lead author of the study. The authors of the new study warn that these changes in species distribution could create greater competition between species for breeding areas.

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