On Nature: David Voigts

There are many dire predictions of what will happen if the climate continues to change, but the effects are also happening now. Two examples were published recently in “Wildlife Professional,” a journal of The Wildlife Society.

Moose in northern New England have suffered population declines, primarily from lower calving rates and high calf mortality. Both were associated with high tick infestations, up to 100,000 ticks per animal. Ticks attach to moose in the fall when tick larvae crawl up plant stems and wait to attach to a host. This critical period ends as snow cover or freezing temperatures kill off unattached larval ticks. As temperatures have warmed, larvae have a longer time to attach to a moose.

The second example involves the whitebark pine, a tree of higher elevations in our western forests where its seeds are a primary food of the Clark’s Nutcracker, an iconic western bird. Whitebark pines are dying at a high rate from a variety of causes, but they have a new threat from the mountain pine beetle. Cold temperatures had protected the pines, but warming temperatures have allowed the beetles to move upslope and devastate the whitebark pine.

It is time to take action on climate change.

David Voigts is a retired ecologist and the current Conservation Chair for the Prairie Rapids Audubon Society. He is a Tama County native, graduating from Dinsdale High School, and lives in rural Jesup on his wife’s family farm.