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Understanding the Potential Impacts of Global Climate Change on Marsh Birds in the Gulf of Mexico Region

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Abstract

Global climate change is expected to significantly affect coastal ecosystems worldwide. For tidal marsh birds of the Gulf of Mexico, the extent of these impacts on future population dynamics is unknown. Here, we present information on our current understanding of marsh bird responses to climate change, identify gaps in that understanding, and propose ways of improving our ability to predict impacts on avian populations. Our understanding of how Gulf Coast avian populations will respond to environmental drivers such as sea-level rise, precipitation patterns, and hurricanes is limited, and detailed local and regional studies linking avian biology to wetland processes are needed. Impacts of wetland change on marsh bird species will be optimally assessed and forecasted within an adaptive framework, making use of process-driven studies that include models designed to elucidate patterns in avian biology and wetland dynamics. Further, because management and conservation efforts are implemented at local or site-specific scales, we recommend that process-driven studies incorporate hierarchical structures, nesting local efforts within a regional context. Implementing this research program will prove fundamental in furthering our understanding of avian population dynamics within the changing Gulf of Mexico environment.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Jim Anderson and Sammy King, organizers of the Wildlife and Climate Change symposium at the 2010 SWS Meeting, for inviting us to participate. This manuscript was greatly improved by comments provided by two anonymous reviewers. Partial support for the preparation of this manuscript was provided to MSW through awards from the Estuarine Reserves Division, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Southern Company and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation through their Power of Flight Program, and the Coastal Research and Extension Center, Mississippi State University. The fire research referenced in this publication was supported by the National Sea Grant College Program of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under NOAA Grant (R/CEH-27), the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium, and the University of Alabama. BLN was supported by a Graduate Research Fellowship, administered by the Estuarine Reserves Division, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. AJJL was partially supported by a grant from the Gulf Coast Joint Venture, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of any of those organizations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Coastal Research and Extension Center, Mississippi State University, 1815 Popps Ferry Road, Biloxi, MS, 39562, USA

    Mark S. Woodrey

  2. Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, 6005 Bayou Heron Road, Moss Point, MS, 39562, USA

    Mark S. Woodrey

  3. Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, N9B 3P4, Canada

    Scott A. Rush

  4. New College and Biological Sciences, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, 35487, USA

    Julia A. Cherry

  5. D.B. Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA

    Bryan L. Nuse, Robert J. Cooper & Anna Joy J. Lehmicke

Authors
  1. Mark S. Woodrey
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  2. Scott A. Rush
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  3. Julia A. Cherry
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  4. Bryan L. Nuse
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  5. Robert J. Cooper
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  6. Anna Joy J. Lehmicke
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Correspondence to Mark S. Woodrey.

Appendix

Appendix

Table 2 Priority research topics for understanding the potential impacts of global climate change on Gulf of Mexico marsh birds
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Woodrey, M.S., Rush, S.A., Cherry, J.A. et al. Understanding the Potential Impacts of Global Climate Change on Marsh Birds in the Gulf of Mexico Region. Wetlands 32, 35–49 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-011-0264-6

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