Climate Change and Migratory Species

Context: According to a recent report released by the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) reveals that  Climate change has a  devastating impact on migratory species

Key Findings of the Report

• Direct impact of climate change on migratory Species: The Climate Change and Migratory Species: A Review of Impacts, Conservation Actions, Indicators, and Ecosystem Services report published at the ongoing 28th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change reveals that climate change has a direct impact on aerial, aquatic and terrestrial migratory species.
• Climate Impact: These include poleward range shifts of terrestrial animals, changes in the timing of migration, and increased probability of deaths and survival due to extreme weather conditions such as heatwaves, and torrential rains among others.
• Global rise in temperatures:

• • Food availability: Warmer temperatures affect the timing and abundance of food availability such as plankton blooms.
  • Species replacement: Cold-water copepods are replaced with warm-water species, resulting in reducing the flush of plankton for fish which results in a shortage of juvenile fish such as sand eels in the vicinity of seabird colonies crucial for seabirds
  • Affect on growth patterns: The higher temperatures were also found to affect Afro-Palearctic migratory passerines such as Barn Swallow chick growth causing a reduction in their growth
  • Stress: An increase in temperatures was found to have increased stress among terrestrial mammals, reduced reproductive success, and decreased population sizes.
  • Habitat loss: Habitat loss due to climate change was observed to be another factor that threatens populations such as Iranian leopard, lions, brown bears, gobi bears, and Asian and African Elephants
  • Affects breeding patterns: Seal and sea lion species that are reliant on sea ice for breeding may be particularly vulnerable to climate change.
  • Affects sex ratios: With regards to reptiles, the phenomenon of temperature-dependent sex determination which increases in the female: male hatchling sex ratio can be directly correlated to increasing temperatures.
  • Extreme weather: Extreme weather affected Shag, which has poor weather-proofing and becomes extremely prone to high mortality due to stormy or wet conditions.
• Scientific evidence: The COP28 report sets out robust scientific evidence that climate change is already having a significant impact on many species around the world that are dependent on migration for their survival
  • Water Crisis: Changes in water availability are causing the loss of wetlands and reduced river flows impacting the migration of fish and waterbirds.
• Extreme events: Extreme climate-related events such as landslides are causing severe habitat destruction and have already been observed at some seabird breeding sites.
• Affecting ecosystems: Climate change is severely disrupting these critical paths, altering ecosystems and affecting the availability of resources.

News Source: Down to Earth