Climate change threat to wildlife

Apr 14 2008 by Brian Daniel, The Journal

IMPACTS of climate change on the region’s coast will have major knock-on effects for a whole host of wildlife, a study by the National Trust will say today.

Rising sea levels and flooding could damage the habitats of a number of animals, such as species of tern and wading birds, as well as the grey seal.

For its study, the trust carried out risk assessments on its coastal sites, which cover 707 miles of coastline in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

These found that the UK’s shores are experiencing a “huge amount of change”.

Adrian Woodhall, the trust’s coastal risk assessment officer, last night warned that the wildlife population on the region’s coastline and in particular the Farne Islands could be unrecognisable in as little as 30 years time.

Mr Woodhall, who was an assistant warden on the Northumberland coast from 1985-91, said: “It is not going to happen overnight.

“If climate change is going to happen in the next 10, 20, 30 years, in evolution terms that is very, very short.

“To start adapting, some of these species will lose out. There will always be birds on Farnes – there may just be other kinds.”

Mr Woodhall said breeding birds on the Farnes are dependant on prey species for their chicks being available within a reasonable distance.

But the changing weather is allowing their main prey, the sand eel, to visit warmer waters further north and birds will have to fly further for food, placing their chicks under more pressure.

Mr Woodhall said: “They will get less food and less of them will survive, unless something moves in which they can use as a prey source.” The same, he added, applies to an animal common on the Farnes – the grey seal.

“If the prey species of the seal moves further north, they will have competition with other species and have a tougher time as well.”

Another challenge facing the seals is loss of habitat. At the Farnes, there are 32 islands in low water and 27 in high. “If we are going to get more and more sea level rise we are going to lose some beaches which means less habitat for seals to have their pups on.”

In 2006, storms over the Farnes resulted in guillemots’ and other birds’ chicks being washed away.

Mr Woodhall added that more space was needed for species to colonise.

Nevertheless, the trust insists climate change will not be bad news for all wildlife.

The warmer conditions have led plankton-eating basking sharks to make their way further up the east coast, with a pair spotted by trust wardens off the Farnes for the first time last year. It is thought they had followed plankton blooms moving north because of warmer, cleaner seas.

Winners and losers as animals battle to adapt

BASKING sharks, little egrets, the Glanville fritillary butterfly and the Celtic sea slug could all be winners in a changing climate, the National Trust report says.

But rising sea levels and increased flooding and erosion could hit species of tern and wading birds, as well as the grey seal and the Sandhill rustic moth.

There are also fears that salt marshes and mud flats which are home to a number of wading birds will be squeezed by rising seas, while the breeding grounds of tern species could be flooded.

One type of the Sandhill rustic moth is found at just one site in Cornwall, a habitat which could be threatened if weather gets stormier.

The rare, tiny lagoon snail will suffer if their caves are inundated with water for long periods.

The little egret, a member of the heron family, has spread quickly north and inland and can now be seen as far as Cheshire, Strongford Lough, County Down and the Humber Estuary.

The Celtic sea slug, could spread from its current base in Cornish rock pools.

Bats may be at risk from flooding, but could benefit from warmer weather, while alien plant species such as the three-cornered leek, Bermuda buttercup and Hottentot fig could spread inland from their coastal position.