The Grinnell Project: Using a Unique Historical Record to Document Responses of Mammals and Birds to 100 Years of Climate Change

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There is intense societal and scientific interest in effects of global warming on species' distributions and diversity. However, because there are so few historical records with the detail necessary to measure multi-decadal responses to past warming, most attention has been on using models to predict future responses. The present study resurveys bird and mammal diversity across 80 high-elevation sites in California for which there is an extensive, museum-based record from the early 20th C. The aims are to (i) measure how changes in climate over the past 100 years have affected species diversity, (ii) test alternative methods for predicting effects of climate change on species' distributions, and (iii) using historically-verified models, predict responses to future climate change.The project will document species' responses to changing climate in a global biodiversity hotspot. By testing predictive models against the observed changes, the investigators will provide a stronger foundation for forecasting changes over the coming century. Students will be trained in field methods, data management and modeling. The results, to be made available immediately through the Museum's web site, will provide another benchmark to which researchers and public alike can turn to understand changes in species diversity over the coming century.