By Susan Milius
BOULDER, Colo. — Warming climate may dramatically change not just where animals live, but how. Solitary sweat bees in northern climes are projected to become builders of social colonies, researchers reported July 31 at the annual meeting of the Animal Behavior Society. Closer to the equator, fitful rainfall may drive tree frogs to exchange plants for ponds as their place to lay eggs.
Previously, researchers found that some animals confronted by changing climate are likely to alter their timing of migration or shift their ranges poleward or up a mountain slope. But a new generation of research is finding that more fundamental changes may occur in animal life history.