| At current rates of increase, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is expected to double within a century. Climate models predict this will lead to an average global temperature increase of 2.5{dollar}rmspcirc C.{dollar} This increase, and the rate of increase, is unprecedented in the Earth's history.; Increases in temperature, and other climate changes, will have an impact on the distributions of animals. The objectives of this study were: (1) to develop models of the association between climate and the summer distributions of 23 species of North American grassland birds; and (2) to model the changes in distribution predicted to occur under one global climate change scenario.; The results showed the summer distributions of all 23 species will shift under this climate change scenario. Several of the species were predicted to become extirpated and substantial changes in the species composition of grassland bird communities were also predicted to occur. |
