FORT > Science Features > Research Briefs > Climate Change & Sandpipers
Exploring the Impacts of Global Climate Change on Migrating Pectoral Sandpipers
Yearly migrations covering thousands of miles between breeding and wintering grounds are common to many animal species including sea turtles, butterflies, and shorebirds. To make these journeys, animals need plenty of resting and feeding places along the way. These places, called stopovers, provide a crucial link between wintering and breeding areas. Food obtained at stopovers provides energy for continued migration and replenishes energy reserves that may be essential for successful reproduction.
The most immediate threat to many populations of migratory shorebirds may be the continuing loss of migration stopover sites due to land-use and climate change in the United States. For example, in the Great Plains of North America, wetland losses to agricultural development have approached 90% in some areas. Furthermore, the number and size of wetlands may also be decreasing in response to global warming.
To better understand the impacts of global warming and landscape changes on shorebird migration, researchers from the USGS Biological Resources Discipline's Fort Collins Science Center (FORT) have studied Pectoral Sandpipers over a five-year period (1992-1996) at three stopover sites and on breeding grounds in Alaska. Body fat and/or movement data collected on over 700 sandpipers are used by FORT researchers to develop computer simulation models. The models help scientists assess the effects of global climate change by predicting how migration behavior and reproductive success of shorebirds may be influenced by changes in stopover distribution and abundance. The models are also used as tools to develop better management options for stopover sites on a regional scale.
Model results, coupled with field data, show several things:
- Female Pectoral Sandpipers significantly increase their fat reserves
during spring migration as they move northward. The extra fat reserves
appear to enhance egg size, chick size, and chick survivorship.
- However, female Pectoral Sandpipers did not significantly increase their fat reserves during drier springs when habitat was less plentiful. This may have affected their reproductive success during at least one year of the study.
If global climate change results in more dry years, scientists fear the reproductive success of shorebirds may be significantly impacted. Future FORT research will use global climate change models to determine the frequency with which drier than normal years are likely to occur.
For more information, please contact:
Adrian Farmer
(970) 226-9410, adrian_farmer@usgs.gov
Fort Collins Science Center
4512 McMurry Avenue
Fort Collins, Colorado 80525-3400
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