Bumblebees unable to adapt to climate change: researchers
find
##Bumblebee populations in North America and Europe are on
the decline due to their lack of ability to adapt to changing climate, a new
study published recently in journal Science suggested//
##Jeremy Kerr, professor of biology at Canada-s University
of Ottawa and the lead author of the study, said the study indicated that some
animal life would not be able to change their habitats to cope with climate
change and survive//
##To conduct the research, the team of researchers led by
Kerr, compiled a database with geographic observations of more than five dozen
species of bumblebees in North America and Europe between 1901 and 2010//
##Science magazine associate editor Sacha Vignieri said,
##It reinforces the
understanding that species will not all be able to shift their ranges in order
to adapt to a changing climate// For species that evolved under cool
conditions, like bumblebees, global warming might be the kind of threat that
causes many of them to disappear for good//##
##The researchers were surprised to discover that in the
recent decades when temperatures shot up humblebees hadn-t moved their habitats
northwards to survive, rather they moved within the same habitats to higher and
colder elevations//
##They demanded a thoughtful, international discussion to
find ways to help bumblebee species to establish colonies in regions further
north to help them survive//
##The researchers also stressed on the need to conserve
threatened species around the globe to prevent their possible disappearance in
the future//