Title: Study to look at effects of climate change on wildlife - Death Valley National Park (U.S. National Park Service)
Headings: Study to look at effects of climate change on wildlife
Study to look at effects of climate change on wildlife
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Content: Study to look at effects of climate change on wildlife - Death Valley National Park (U.S. National Park Service)
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Study to look at effects of climate change on wildlife
Like these 1920’s era travelers, the original Grinnell study researchers endured harsh conditions. NPS
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News Release Date: December 29, 2015
Contact: Abby Wines, (760)786-3221
Contact: Steve Beissinger, (510)642-3567
SAN FRANCISCO—The University of California, Berkeley is leading a study of wildlife and climate change at Death Valley National Park. Researchers plan to survey animals in Death Valley National Park to learn how bird, small mammal, reptile, and amphibian populations have changed over the last century. Between 1908 and 1945, Professor Joseph Grinnell and his colleagues at UC Berkeley's Museum of Vertebrate Zoology collected animal specimens and recorded locations of animal populations. That research now provides a valuable baseline to be able to understand if there have been changes over time. Scientists from UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz, the San Diego Natural History Museum, and the University of New Mexico will survey the same sites in Death Valley that Professor Grinnell's team studied over 70 years ago. By comparing historic and modern animal populations in Death Valley National Park, the project will be able to examine how rapid recent warming influences the geographic ranges of animal species, their diets, and their morphology.