“Animals can react to climate change in only three ways: they can move, adapt or die.”

That statement comes from a 2018 article by Renée Cho, a contributor to the Columbia Climate School at Columbia University in New York City.

How much an animal will need to react depends on its species and individual traits. Lake County’s wildlife are particularly vulnerable to climate change compared to elsewhere in Illinois due to the county’s perch in the northeastern corner of the state.

In today’s episode, the first of two parts on what climate change could mean for local wildlife, and how animals may already be adapting.

Guests:

• Gary Glowacki, manager of conservation ecology, Lake County Forest Preserves
• Eric Ness, former wildlife ecologist, Lake County Forest Preserves
• Pati Vitt, director of natural resources, Lake County Forest Preserves

Selected Links and Sources:

• “A new theory helps explain the epic mystery of bird migration,” Vox
• “America's Ugly Strip Malls Were Caused By Government Regulation,” Scott Beyer, Forbes
• Backyard Birding
• Birding Lake County
• “Birdwatchers Set World Records on Global Big Day,” Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• “Blanding’s Turtle Facts,” The Nature Conservancy
• Blanding’s Turtle Recovery Program
• “Climate change shifts the timing of nutritional flux from aquatic insects,” Current Biology
• Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• “Estimating theEffects of Road Mortality on Turtle Populations,” Conservation Biology
• “Extreme Heat Safety,” American Red Cross
• “False Springs: How Earlier Spring With Climate Change Wreaks Havoc on Birds,” National Audubon Society
• “Generalists vs. Specialists (and the Specialist’s Dilemma)”, Max Olson, FutureBlind
• Global Big Day
• “Guy Callendar, the man who discovered global warming in 1938,” Medium
• Horizons (Summer 2016)
• Horizons (Fall 2021)
• Illinois Endangered Species Protection Board
• Illinois Ornithological Society
• International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List
• Lake Plain
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
• “New data show that birding mania isn’t just a lockdown fad,” Lila MacLellan, Quartz
• “Shifting Timelines: is a Warming World Changing how Birds Migrate?”, Audubon Vermont
• “Specialists and Generalists Both Critical to Forest Health,” Ethan Tapper, The Charlotte News
• “The Birds are Not on Lockdown, and More People are Watching Them,” Jacey Fortin, The New York Times
• “What Helps Animals Adapt (or Not) to Climate Change?”, Renée Cho
• “What Is Homogenized Milk And What Does It Mean?”, Undeniably Dairy
• “Why Did the Turtle Cross the Road?”, Monika Liszka, University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine Wildlife Medical Clinic
• “Why Everywhere Looks the Same,” Coby Lefkowitz, Medium
• “Widespread shifts in bird migration phenology are decoupled from parallel shifts in morphology,” Journal of Animal Ecology

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If you like what the forest preserves do for you, please consider donating to the Preservation Foundation of the Lake County Forest Preserves’ endowment campaign. Your gift will help provide a perpetual, dependable funding source and ensure every acre of habitat we restore remains ecologically healthy. Learn more and give at LCFPD.org/donate.

Have questions or comments? Send them to WordsOfTheWoods@LCFPD.org.

This episode of Words of the Woods was written, hosted and produced by Brett Peto, Environmental Communications Specialist at the Lake County Forest Preserves. Featuring research and expertise from Dr. Trent Ford, Gary Glowacki, Kathryn McCabe, Eric Ness and Dr. Pati Vitt. Script editing by Gary Glowacki, Kevin Kleinjan, Ty Kovach, Jeanna Martinucci, Kathryn McCabe, Kim Mikus, Rebekah Snyder, Matt Ueltzen and Pati Vitt. Music and sound effects from Storyblocks. Audio editing and mixing by Brett Peto. Episode cover art © Callie Klatt Golba.

Words of the Woods is a production of the Lake County Forest Preserves in Libertyville, Illinois.