Date: July 20, 2016
Source: University of Queensland
Climate change could make much of
the Arctic unsuitable for millions of migratory birds that travel north to
breed each year, according to a new international study published today
in Global Change Biology.
The University of Queensland
School of Biological Sciences' researcher Hannah Wauchope said that suitable
breeding conditions for Arctic shorebirds could collapse by 2070.
"This means that countries
throughout the world will have fewer migratory birds reaching their
shores," Ms Wauchope said.
Arctic breeding shorebirds
undertake some of the longest known migratory journeys in the animal kingdom,
with many travelling more than 20,000 kilometres per year to escape the northern
winter.
The bar-tailed godwit flies from
Alaska to New Zealand in a single flight of 12,000 kilometres without landing.
The study predicts that, in a
warming world, migratory birds will become increasingly restricted to small
islands in the Arctic Ocean as they retreat north.
This could cause declines in
hard-hit regions and some birds could even completely change migratory pathways
to migrate closer to suitable habitat.
"Climate change is also
opening up the Arctic to threats such as mining and tourism, and we must make
sure we protect key places for all Arctic species, including these amazing
migratory birds," Ms Wauchope said.
UQ's Associate Professor Richard
Fuller from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions (CEED)
said most migratory populations followed well-defined migratory routes.
"This makes shorebirds an
excellent group to investigate how climate change might impact breeding grounds
and conservation actions that could address these impacts," Associate
Professor Fuller said.
The research modelled the
suitable climate breeding conditions of 24 Arctic shorebirds and projected them
to 2070.
The researchers also examined the
impact on Arctic birds of the world's last major warming event about 6000 to
8000 years ago.
"Climatically suitable
breeding conditions could shift and contract over the next 70 years, with up to
83 per cent of Arctic bird species losing most of their currently suitable
area," Ms Wauchope said.
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