Climate change and the long-term northward shift in the African wintering range of the barn swallow Hirundo rustica

Climate is a major factor shaping the distribution, abundance and life history of organisms (Begon et al. 2006).The effects of recent, rapid climate change at a global scale have frequently been invoked as the most likely and effective candidate for producing widespread spatial, phenological and demographic changes in species and communities (Parmesan & Yohe 2003, Parmesan 2006).However, differences in