Sea Level Rise Threatens Birds
Rising Oceans Will Destroy Breeding and Foraging Habitat of Birds
Coastal nesting areas and wetlands will be inundated if sea level rises as predicted with global warming. Australia may be one of the first places hit.
We’ve all heard dire predictions of the sea level rising if global warming continues at its present pace. Communities at sea level, low lying islands, and coastal flood plains and river deltas could all disappear beneath the waves. The implications for humans are serious, but there will also be very significant losses for plant and animal species. Shore birds are certain to face severe challenges in finding feeding grounds and nesting sites.
In North America, the Piping Plover has been identified as one of the birds that could face heavy losses. Already endangered, this bird nests on Atlantic beaches above the high tide mark, and in prairie salt flats. In recent years, human disturbance on beaches where the plovers nest nearly wiped them out, but efforts to protect nesting sites have had considerable positive effect. If sea level rise now destroys the nesting sites, that will all have been for naught.
A recent study published in the Journal of Ornithology has brought attention to the fact that, for unknown reasons, sea level is rising faster in northern Australia than in other parts of the world. The study finds that up to 66 species of birds could be threatened in the next three decades if the sea floods wetlands, grasslands, and rainforests. Scientists Stephen Garnett and Eric Valentine predict a rush of salt water into fresh water wetlands, destroying mangroves and other highly productive ecosystems. The effect on birds that rely on these systems will be catastrophic.
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