The ABMI will wrap-up our 3-year collaborative Biodiversity Management and Climate Change Adaptation project at the end of June 2015. This project has examined the potential impacts of climate change on Alberta’s biodiversity and developed knowledge and tools to support the management of Alberta’s species and ecosystems in a changing climate. We’ve delved into a wide range of topics, including: the vulnerability of [...]
All posts in Climate Change
Dealing with uncertainty: how will Alberta’s boreal birds respond to climate change?
If you’ve ever listened to a forest in the spring, the sound you hear is dozens of birds singing and calling to one another: sending and receiving signals with sound. It may sound like just noise to some, but there is an underlying pattern. It turns out that you could say the same thing when [...]
Blazing Ahead of Climate Change – The Potential for Assisted Migration of Alberta’s Native Plants
It’s the Goldilocks principle. All species, including plants, animals, and fungi, are uniquely adapted to a specific combination of climate and environmental conditions that they need to grow, reproduce and thrive – things need to be “just right”. If the environment changes, species have two choices: they can either stay where they are and adapt [...]
ABMI on the Small Screen
Did you know that, by the end of the century, Alberta’s climate is projected to become warmer, by an average of 2-4°C, as well as drier and more variable? In response to this change, Alberta’s ecosystems are predicted to shift northward and upslope. These are big changes and will affect our landscapes, species and communities. [...]
Two Sides to the Story: the Impacts of Climate Change on Alberta’s Burrowing Owls; an Endangered Species
What do you get when you combine plywood, a plastic bucket, and a tunnel in the prairies? An artificial burrow for one of Alberta’s most fascinating underground dwellers: the Burrowing Owl! It might be surprising, but artificial burrows may be one way to help Alberta’s declining Burrowing Owl population respond to the potential negative impacts [...]
Climate Change: Which Alberta Species will Feel the Heat?
It’s June in Alberta. In response to the shift from spring to summer, Trembling Aspens in the Parkland have flowered and unfurled their leaves, migratory songbirds have returned to the expansive boreal forest, and Great Plains Toads in southern Alberta are searching for temporary wetlands in which to lay their eggs. But on top of [...]
Worm Invasion
Did you know that earthworms are not native to Alberta? It’s ok if you didn’t—surveys done by the Alberta Worm Invasion Project show that only 15% of anglers are aware of this. The Alberta Worm Invasion Project—spearheaded by Dr. Erin Cameron and Dr. Erin Bayne*—is working to boost public awareness of earthworm invasions through basic [...]
Weathering the Storm: Alberta’s Ferruginous Hawks in a Changing Climate
ABMI Releases New Video Not only does Alberta’s changing climate pose challenges for us humans, it does so for lots of other creatures as well. For a species like the Ferruginous Hawk, which already faces a variety of threats, climate change could have disastrous consequences for its survival in Alberta. So, how will climate change [...]