Migrating in a Warming World: Thermal and Fire Refugia for Migratory Birds en Route

  • Bureau of Land Management
Complete

Climate change and its associated disturbances, including wildfires, droughts and vegetation changes, pose significant challenges for migratory birds. Migratory landbirds are particularly vulnerable to environmental change and habitat degradation because they rely on spatially linked, high-quality stopover sites along their migratory routes where they can rest and refuel the energy they need to complete migration. Habitat degradation in a single stopover site may cause chain effects in subsequent flights and result in direct mortality or carry-over effects in breeding and overwintering grounds.

In the arid and semiarid landscapes of high-elevation Northwest deserts, riparian vegetation — vegetation adjacent to rivers, streams and other water bodies — is more productive and resilient to fire than surrounding habitats and may provide critical shelter, thermal protection and food resources for migrants. The Northern Basin and Range ecoregion (NBR) is a high-elevation desert along the Pacific Flyway, one of North America’s four major migratory flyways. Migrants are likely to land to rest and refuel in the NBR before and after crossing the dryer Great Basin ecoregion. The NBR ecoregion is subject to climatic and other human-caused pressures and has experienced dramatic vegetation changes in response to changes in climate, fire and human land use.

In this project, Edwin seeks to understand the role that riparian vegetation in the NBR plays in the net energetic balance of migrants, particularly on vulnerable species, which is critical to maintaining and creating high-quality stopover habitats for migratory landbirds. Considering the alarming declines in North American migratory birds, the projected increases in temperature, and changes in fire regimes caused by climate change in western North America, this timely research will be critical to understanding the role that riparian vegetation plays as climate and fire refugia for migratory birds along their migratory routes. This research is a joint effort between Washington State University and the Bureau of Land Management Vale District (BLM). The results of this research will inform the BLM on adapting habitat protection, restoration and enhancement of riparian habitat within public, private and tribal lands to aid in the resilience of landbird migration under climate change.