Understanding the Effect of Climate Change on Migratory Birds: A Review

Abstract

Climate change is being referred to as a global plague and has significant negative consequences on the world’s economic, social, and ecological systems. Extreme weather consequences like drought, floods, and heat waves have had unprecedented occurrences and have had substantial effects on animals and plants. Climate change significantly influences animal phenologies, such as bird arrival and egg-laying times. As a result of these present and future climate change impacts, species interactions with their local environment are anticipated to change, resulting in changes in population size, range extent, and extinction rates. The current review discusses the effect of climate changes on migratory birds and concludes that climate change is one of the most serious dangers to world ecological systems, as indicated by the numerous ecological impacts imposed by changing climate on migratory birds. Climate change significantly affects breeding strategies, migration, distribution, latitudinal or altitudinal shift, community structure change, morphological change, and elimination or extinction of migratory birds. The current review attempts to communicate research and advances in the effect of climate change on migratory birds to different actors in society, including researchers, conservationists, practitioners, and policymakers.