title: Extreme weather event in spring 2013 delayed breeding time of Great Tit and Blue Tit.
abstract: The impact of climatic changes on life cycles by re-scheduling the timing of reproduction is an important topic in studies of biodiversity. Global warming causes and will probably cause in the future not only raising temperatures but also an increasing frequency of extreme weather events. In 2013, the winter in central and north Europe ended late, with low temperatures and long-retained snow cover--this extreme weather phenomenon acted in opposition to the increasing temperature trend. In 2013, thermal conditions measured by the warmth sum in the period 15 March–15 April, a critical time for early breeding passerines, went far beyond the range of the warmth sums for at least 40 preceding years. Regardless of what was the reason for the extreme early spring 2013 and assuming that there is a potential for more atypical years because of climate change, we should look closely at every extreme phenomenon and its consequences for the phenology of organisms. In this paper, we report that the prolonged occurrence of winter conditions during the time that is crucial for Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) and Great Tit (Parus major) reproduction caused a substantial delay in the onset of egg laying in comparison with typical springs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Zoology and Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Łódź, Banacha 12/16, 90-237 Łódź, Poland. mglad@biol.uni.lodz.pl
authors.forename: Michał
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Glądalski
authors.forename: Mirosława
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bańbura
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kaliński
authors.forename: Marcin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Markowski
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Skwarska
authors.forename: Jarosław
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wawrzyniak
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zieliński
authors.forename: Jerzy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bańbura
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D010058:Oviposition; D046109:Passeriformes / Q000502:physiology*; D011044:Poland; D014887:Weather