Global warming creates problems for birds

LONDON, June 17 (UPI) -- British scientists say some African bird species could encounter relocation problems in their struggle to survive global warming.

Researchers from Imperial College London said some sub-Saharan African species are in danger of becoming trapped in environments that will become too hostile for survival because their escape routes contain dramatically different kinds of landscapes, such as arid plains, tropical forests or mountain ranges.

"As the climate changes and some habitats become inhospitable, bird species may start to move -- stretching their ranges as they track the changing climate across the landscape, looking for new, agreeable habitats," said Lynsey McInnes, lead author of the research. "Our study suggests that these vital movements could run into difficulties if the birds' escape routes … do not provide the right kind of food and shelter."

Professor Brian Hoskins, director of the school's Grantham Institute for Climate Change, said the study highlights the scope of problems animals across the world are facing as the climate of their natural habitat changes.

The study appears in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.