An analysis of more than three decades' worth of field data reveals that the rate at which environmental temperatures in a given area oscillate is closely matched by rates of oscillations in the size of resident animal populations.
Population biologists use colours to describe these changes. Species whose numbers oscillate mainly over the long term are called red, whereas those shifting over shorter timescales are termed blue. Bernardo García-Carreras and Daniel Reuman at Imperial College London analysed data on 147 species and records from weather stations around the world. They show that environments seem to tinge local populations the same colour. Furthermore, environments on most continents have grown bluer with climate change, so animal populations may also become bluer.
Previous models have suggested that those red populations that shift towards blue are less prone to extinction, although other factors, such as habitat destruction, could counteract any benefit.
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Animals go 'blue' with temperature. Nature 472, 138–139 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/472138d
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/472138d
