Federal study lists northwest Alaska climate change winners

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – Some northwest Alaska bird species could benefit from climate change but increased temperatures could harm populations of several mammals, a federal study has concluded.

More shrubs and trees and less tundra could help tree-dwellers such as northern goshawks, according to the study, which predicted changes in boreal and Arctic habitats used by 162 bird species and 39 land mammals in northweast Alaska.

But rising temperatures and other trends could harm species that need open space, that feed on lichens, or that use coast or river habitats, the Alaska Dispatch News (htt...