Birds are sensitive indicators of climate change: they have been for 140 million years Dr. Gareth Dyke UCD School of Biology & Environmental Science 13 th February 2009 Earth Systems Institute University College Dublin Email: esi.admin@ucd.ie Institiúid na gcóras Domhanda An Coláiste Ollscoile Baile Átha Cliath Web: www.ucd.ie/earth
The anniversary of Charles Darwin s birthday was yesterday Feb 12th 1809-1882 Climate plays an important part in determining the average numbers of a species OOS 1859 ch.iii, p. 86
The anniversary of Abraham Lincoln s birthday was yesterday Feb 12th 1809-1865 The Lord prefers common-looking people. That is why he makes so many of them Our President (James Morgan)
Keen ornithologists both, no doubt: but what am I going to talk about? (1) What are birds? (2) Why are birds good indicators of climate change? (3) What am I doing about this at UCD? (4) Lessons for Ireland
Why is everyone so fascinated by birds?
Birds and climate change: a very noticeable effect garden birds in decline Daily Telegraph Jan 2009 down a fifth compared with four years ago RSPB Garden Bird Survey 2008 considerable decrease in songbird species considerable decrease in songbird species Crowe, O. 2005. Irish Birds
(1) What are birds? Archaeopteryx: The earliest bird 140 million-years-old Solnhofen, Bavaria teeth bony tail long-fingered hands + feathers Berlin Archaeopteryx: one of nine known skeletons
(1) What are birds? living descendants of theropod dinosaurs: feathered dinosaurs Sinornithosaurus: 100 mya, China
(1) What are birds? Neornithes: modern birds ca. 10,000 species
(1) What are birds? Idea about dinosaur relationship dates back to the scientific debates of the 1860s Thomas Huxley (1825-1895)
(1) What are birds? Huxley noticed five things about birds Fluffy body covering Birds can fly (bipinate feathers) + Birds brood their nests Birds take care of their young Birds have hollow bones (air-sac system) +
(1) What are birds? Velociraptor Domestic chicken hollow bones marks of the air sac system
(2) Why are birds good indicators of climate change? unique breathing system flight efficiency Avian respiration human lung avian respiratory system
(2) Why are birds good indicators of climate change? unique breathing system flight efficiency Anas: air-sac system injected with latex O'Connor PM, Claessens LPAM (2005) Basic avian pulmonary design and flow-through ventilation in non-avian theropod dinosaurs. Nature 436:253-256.
(2) Why are birds good indicators of climate change? unique breathing system flight efficiency Extinction risk not just garden birds: Pacific marine birds Marbled Murrelet Parasitic Jaeger Masses and speeds close to envelope (alcids, procellarids) Small changes in ocean temperature will seriously impact efficiency (= extinction) Egg numbers in nests correlated to latitude (temperature) Elliott, K. et al. 2007. Is mass loss in Brunnich s guillemots (Uria lomvia) an adaptation for improved flight performance or improved dive performance? Journal of Avian Biology
(3) What am I doing about this at UCD? (Chiappe & Dyke 2007) Example 1: deep time (65 mya) Bird evolution in the Eocene: surviving the dinosaur extinction
(3) What am I doing about this at UCD? Feduccia (1995) dinosaur Extinction here Example 1: deep time (65 mya) Bird evolution in the Eocene: surviving the dinosaur extinction
Understanding this Understanding this selective survival is the holy grail of avian evolution
(3) What am I doing about this at UCD? Some results: Example 1: deep time (65 mya) Bird evolution in the Eocene: surviving the dinosaur extinction
(3) What am I doing about this at UCD? Some results: 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Clade Rank Example 1: deep time (65 mya) Bird evolution in the Eocene: surviving the dinosaur extinction
(3) What am I doing about this at UCD? Evolutionary implications: 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 Pneumaticity distinguishes neornithine and non-modern lineages 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 01 0.1 KT extinction coincident with O 2 decline 0 Non-neornithines Neornithines Pneumaticity may have advantaged neornithines post-impact Example 1: deep time (65 mya) Bird evolution in the Eocene: surviving the dinosaur extinction
(3) What am I doing about this at UCD? Example 2: Recent time R.M. Barrington (1849 1915) and his avian herbarium
(3) What am I doing about this at UCD? Lighthouse and lightship map Example 2: Recent time R.M. Barrington (1849 1915) and his avian herbarium
R.M. Barrington. Cover & Inside cover - The Migration of Birds as Observed at Irish Lighthouses and Lightships.1900.
Interior of the Merrion St. Museum Barrington provides us with a baseline from which to track changes in Irish birds over the last 120 years (Prof. Tim Crowe Univ Cape Town) > 5,000 records of Irish birds and co. (700 species) > 10 years data (1886-1899) complete wings and legs measurements, body mass, wing length migratory and non-migratory species
How does this position UCD globally? Very little current work in this area: data resolution issue Limited examples: Predicting areas of biodiversity risk/management (Lee & Jetz 2008 Proc Roy Soc) Identification of phylogenetic distribution of threatened UK birds (Thomas, G. 2009. Proc Roy Soc.) We have unique data: time-resolved, geographically constrained We are a major player in Evolutionary Biology: (www.ucd.ie/bioenvsci/research/evolution.htm) htm)
Conclusions & prospectus: (1) Birds are dinosaurs and have a deep evolutionary history (2) Because of their biology, birds are sensitive indicators of climate change (3) Two examples of current research, one that is uniquely Irish and relevant (?) Skeletal pneumaticity was important in avian evolution (?) Historical data can be used to inform the (?) Historical data can be used to inform the present, and perhaps make future predictions
(4) Lessons for Ireland We can contribute to the climate change debate Evolutionary biology underpins climate responses We have access to unique data ( lab Ireland ) Stimulate research in all areas Get young people interested in science Graduate programmes in areas like evolution, palaeontology and climate change biology prevailing scientific dogma can be an impediment to innovative ideas (see for e.g. Nicholls 2009 Nature Darwin 200: A flight of fancy)
Key UCD Message The Innovation Imperative: Productivity growth in the Irish economy has slowed to close to zero. The only way to rediscover productivity growth and be able to sustain it is by innovation and the embedding of the knowledge society. The Energy and Climate Change Imperative: We have hugely demanding energy and emission reduction obligations the only way to meet them is through the use of markets and innovation. The Earth Systems Institute response to these imperatives - We will be an engine showing how to use research and innovation smart technology and smart policy - to regain competitiveness and productivity, generate jobs and meet our energy and climate change obligations
Acknowledgements: Karl Grimes: Dignified Kings project NMINH 2007 www.karlgrimes.net Nikita Coulter, Paolo Viscardi and Bridge to Workplace Initiative (HEA) Data entry of Barrington birds 2006-2007 Julia Sigwart: Collections based Biology in Dublin www.ucd.ie/cobid My review papers in this area: Chiappe, L.M. & Dyke, G.J. 2007. The beginnings of birds: recent discoveries, ongoing arguments and new directions, in J. Anderson and H.-D. Sues (eds), Major Evolutionary Transitions, pp. 303-336. Lindow, B.E & Dyke, G.J. 2006. Bird evolution in the Eocene: climate change in Europe and a Danish fossil fauna. Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society 81: 1-16. Dyke, G.J. & van Tuinen, M. 2004. The evolutionary radiation of modern birds (Neornithes): reconciling molecules, morphology and the fossil record. Zoological Journal of the Linnaean Society 141: 153-177 177. E: gareth.dyke@ucd.ie
UCD Earth Systems Institute Meeting the Challenge of Climate Change Seminar Series In collaboration with Comhar Sustainable Development Council, Environmental Protection Agency, Forfás, Geological Survey of Ireland, Marine Institute, Met Éireann, Sustainable Energy Ireland & Teagasc Further details on the seminar series is available at www.ucd.ie/earth A paper and podcast of this seminar will be available on the ESI website soon, please join the online ESI mailing list for such notifications ESI email: esi.admin@ucd.ie
UCD Earth Systems Institute Meeting the Challenge of Climate Change Seminar Series Next week...seminar #9 Friday 20 th February 2009 Royal College of Physicians, 12.30pm Dr. Jenny McElwain UCD School of Biology and Environmental Science Climate change and mass extinction: What can we learn from 200 million year old plants? Further details available at www.ucd.ie/earth