The Impact of Future Climate Variability on Shorebirds and Their Wetland Habitats in the South Central U.S.

Healthy wetlands provide buffers against drought, flooding, pollution, and other threats to humans and nature. Climate change imperils wetland health, including impacting the connections among wetlands that facilitate movements and prevent extinctions of wetland-dependent wildlife. One wildlife group of considerable conservation concern and vulnerability to climate induced wetland changes is migratory shorebirds (a diverse group that includes sandpipers and plovers). Many shorebirds undertake long-distance migrations and have experienced sharp population declines, partly from loss of migratory stopover sites. During stopovers, shorebirds are thought to need a regional network of wetlands, with connections among local wetlands and large-scale [...]