Wildfire smoke from previous year lowers bird diversity in US
Researchers at ETH Zurich and the University of Bern found that wildfire smoke affecting an area one year reduces bird diversity the next breeding season across the United States.
Study uses long-term survey data
The team analyzed data from the North American Breeding Bird Survey covering 2,800 routes in the U.S. between 2008 and 2022. They combined these counts with high-resolution measurements of particulate matter pollution from wildfires to assess impacts on avian populations.
Smoke effects last into next season
Results show that regions hit harder by smoke in the previous year had lower bird diversity during the following breeding season. The study also looked at how evenly birds were distributed and how different species were from an evolutionary perspective.
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