From Arctic shorebirds to Amazon river dolphins, migratory species are facing unprecedented risks from climate change, habitat fragmentation and environmental shifts
Climate change is affecting migratory species worldwide, with warming, extreme weather events and shifting water systems altering their ranges, shrinking habitats and reducing the benefits that people get from nature.
This warning comes from the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), after its migratory species and climate change expert workshop
The findings of its report were released on Friday after the workshop in Edinburgh in the UK in February which brought together 73 experts, including scientists, wildlife managers and representatives from global NGOs and intergovernmental agencies.
“From forest elephants that contribute to carbon storage capacity in jungles, to whales that transport essential nutrients across ocean basins, migratory species are vital in maintaining healthy ecosystems that are resilient and contribute to climate change mitigation,” the CMS said.
As these species rely on habitats that span continents and seasons, environmental changes in one region can trigger cascading effects thousands of kilometres away, underscoring the global nature of conservation challenges.
Fatal mismatches, habitat gridlock
Climate change is causing fatal timing mismatches. In Alaska and the Arctic, climate shifts are throwing off the timing between when shorebirds hatch and when insects appear, reducing chick survival and reproductive success.
In western Alaska, every degree change shifts nesting time by one to two days. Because of climatic cooling, the timing of nesting was unexpectedly delayed by four to five days over a decade. Later nests mean less and smaller eggs and a shorter incubation period.
In India and Sri Lanka, Asian elephants are hitting a habitat dead end. As climate change and development push their ranges eastward, many herds are trapped by farms and settlements, fuelling rising conflict with people.
Climate change is also disrupting whale migrations, shrinking prey, and reducing reproduction. North Atlantic right whales are particularly vulnerable, forced to take dangerous detours as warming seas disrupt their routes.
In the Himalayas, species face an altitude squeeze. Cold-adapted species such as musk deer, pheasants and snow trout are being driven higher up mountain slopes as temperatures rise, squeezed into smaller, fragmented habitats. Some small mammals could lose more than half of their range.
Extreme heat is devastating aquatic species. In 2023, an Amazon river heatwave reached 41°C, killing river dolphins and compounding prey loss, while in the Mediterranean, marine heat extremes are projected to cut the habitat of fin whales by up to 70% by mid-century and shrink dolphin ranges amid food loss and pollution stress.
Seagrass meadows, which store nearly 20% of the world’s oceanic carbon, while supporting coastal resilience, sustaining fisheries and species such as dugongs and sea turtles, are also being damaged by marine heatwaves, cyclones and rising seas.
Helping species adapt
The workshop’s deliberations earlier this year underpin the new CMS report and the action points that are being advanced towards the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS COP15) in March next year in Campo Grande, Brazil.
The world’s migratory species face increasingly formidable challenges from habitat deterioration and overexploitation, noted Des Thompson, the CMS COP‑appointed scientific councillor for climate change.
Climate change makes these problems worse, with extreme weather affecting habitats, food availability, carbon capture and the ranges migratory species occupy, Thompson said.
“Our workshop enhanced our understanding of measures to manage migration routes and range shifts and what needs to be done to lift ‘barriers’ to migration. Case studies are pointing to key actions to help species adapt to climate change.”
The CMS calls for climate strategies that prioritise ecosystem health, supported by conservation investments that also help curb climate change. Safeguarding migratory species will require unprecedented international cooperation and financial investment.
“There is an urgent need for closer alignment of the international climate and biodiversity frameworks that aim to put the future of our planet on the right path,” the CMS said.