{"id":921403,"date":"2026-10-09T03:50:35","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T03:50:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/921403\/"},"modified":"2026-10-09T03:50:35","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T03:50:35","slug":"rising-seas-threaten-the-worlds-migratory-shorebirds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/921403\/","title":{"rendered":"Rising seas threaten the world\u2019s migratory shorebirds"},"content":{"rendered":"

Birds undertake some of the world\u2019s most impressive migrations<\/a>, travelling hundreds to thousands of kilometres every year in search of safe breeding grounds and seasonally abundant food resources. For many birds, migration is the key to their success<\/a>. However, migration can also make species more vulnerable to threats.<\/p>\n

Shorebirds<\/a> \u2014 species that include sandpipers, plovers and oystercatchers \u2014 live and migrate along the world\u2019s coastlines. Over the last several decades, coastal development has led to the loss of shorebird habitats<\/a> in many areas of the world, driving population declines in multiple species<\/a>. Now, a new threat is emerging: climate change-driven sea-level rise.<\/p>\n

But how exactly does sea-level rise impact shorebirds, and just how serious is this threat?<\/p>\n

Our new study<\/a> reviews the evidence from 37 published papers to provide the first comprehensive overview of the threat of sea-level rise to the world\u2019s shorebirds. Long story short: things aren\u2019t looking good.<\/p>\n

Squeezing habitats out of existence<\/p>\n

Shorebirds \u2014 as their name suggests \u2014 live along the shore, relying primarily on coastal ecosystems<\/a> like beaches, salt marshes and tidal flats. As sea levels rise, these vital habitats shrink.<\/p>\n

Some coastal ecosystems may persist<\/a> in the face of sea-level rise by moving inland with the rising waters, but this isn\u2019t always possible. More than half of the world\u2019s largest cities are within 100 kilometres of a coast<\/a>, meaning that the presence of coastal infrastructure often blocks these pathways. <\/p>\n

\"a<\/a><\/p>\n

Shorebirds such as the plover rely on threatened coastal habitats for their survival.
\n (Getty Images\/Unsplash+)<\/p>\n

This leads to a phenomenon known as coastal squeeze<\/a> \u2014 where ecosystems are increasingly squeezed between the rising waters and an inland barrier (such as dikes and seawalls built to protect homes and businesses), leading to decreases in habitat.<\/p>\n

Loss of habitat has obvious implications for migratory shorebirds: less access to food, less space for nesting<\/a> and more competition<\/a> with other individuals.<\/p>\n

But habitat loss isn\u2019t the only threat to these species. Sea-level rise may also impact shorebirds in different ways, leading to changes in prey distribution<\/a>, reproductive success<\/a>, feeding time<\/a> and many other factors.<\/p>\n

Just how serious is the threat?<\/p>\n

Among the 37 studies that we examined, 21 predicted negative impacts of sea-level rise on shorebird habitats such as declines in habitat area or quality, while 17 predicted negative impacts on shorebird populations or individuals such as decreased survival or abundance.<\/p>\n

Sea-level rise is expected to drive substantial habitat loss at many sites of international importance<\/a> for migratory shorebirds. These include San Francisco Bay and Humboldt Bay<\/a> in the United States, the Colorado River Delta and Marismas Nacionales<\/a> in Mexico and the Yellow Sea<\/a> region in East Asia, each of which supports 150,000 to more than one million shorebirds annually.<\/p>\n

Habitat loss at these kinds of migratory bottleneck sites where large numbers of shorebirds congregate over a short period of time may hit populations particularly hard. Because so many birds funnel through these sites during migration, habitat loss in these areas may impact multiple species and entire populations. This means these sites must be a priority for conservation.<\/p>\n

Balancing the needs of humans and wildlife<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a><\/p>\n

Protecting coastal ecosystems from sea-level rise is essential for the survival of shorebirds like the oystercatcher.
\n (Vidar Nordli-Mathisen\/Unsplash)<\/p>\n

Maintaining coastal ecosystems and protecting them from the threat of sea-level rise will be essential for the survival of thriving shorebird populations. But coastal ecosystems aren\u2019t only important for shorebirds. They also support thousands of other species<\/a> and provide valuable ecosystem services<\/a> such as coastal protection, water filtration and carbon storage.<\/p>\n

In order to preserve these habitats and the species that depend on them, governments will need to make a serious effort to mitigate the impacts of coastal squeeze. Rather than continuing to armour our shorelines, decision makers should prioritize solutions that will protect human communities while also benefitting coastal ecosystems<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The shape that these actions take may vary from place to place. In some areas, it may be necessary to relocate coastal infrastructure<\/a> to give ecosystems space to move inland as sea levels rise \u2014 an approach referred to as \u201cmanaged retreat.\u201d In other areas, scientists and practitioners are looking at how we can use sediment recovered from dredging<\/a> to enhance or create new habitats.<\/p>\n

However we choose to respond to sea-level rise, urgent action will be required to preserve shorebirds and their fascinating migrations for generations to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Birds undertake some of the world\u2019s most impressive migrations, travelling hundreds to thousands of kilometres every year in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":921404,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[64,63,75,128],"class_list":["post-921403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=921403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921403\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/921404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=921403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=921403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=921403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}