Join MAREA to learn about the effects of climate change on chickadees in our region. MAREA presents Dr. Bob Curry of The Curry Lab, Villanova University, speaking about “Changes in the geographic ranges and hybridization of chickadees, as a result of climate change.”

According to the Department of Environmental Protection’s report Pennsylvania Climate Impacts Assessment Update, human activity has already warmed Pennsylvania by 1.8 F. If trends continue, by mid-century Philadelphia area temperatures will be similar to historical temperatures in Richmond, VA and Pittsburgh temperatures will resemble historical temperatures in the Baltimore-Washington area. Under these changing conditions, birds (and others) may understandably relocate to find livable temperatures where they can survive and thrive.

As species move about, changing “neighborhoods” can lead to new interplays between species. A fascinating study from The Curry Lab uses the songs of local chickadees to research a hybrid zone that is moving. In an east-west region from NJ to Kansas, Carolina chickadees live in the south and black-capped chickadees live in the north, with a hybrid zone in between. This zone of hybridization has been moving north.

To read more about the event, click here.

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

7 – 8:30 PM

TEKPark

9999 Hamilton Boulevard

Breinigsville, PA  18031