Wildlife migration routes in the Western United States are likely to change significantly in the coming years because of the changing climate, a study from the Conservation Science Partners (CSP) has concluded.
The severity of these changes is likely to require substantial human intervention and assistance.
What's happening?
Based on current migration patterns from Colorado and New Mexico, researchers have projected what elk migration routes will look like by 2050.
These routes are subject to change based on a variety of factors, from climate-related reasons like temperature increases, precipitation, and vegetation cover to human factors like American population evolution and its subsequent effects on real estate development, traffic, and more.
Based on these projections, researchers have found that as a result of declining snowfall, migrating elk herds may spread out further across the region more in the winter. On the other hand, these herds may be more compacted during summer migrations due to declining rainfall.
Why are wildlife migration routes important?
Wildlife migration routes can greatly affect human populations if not properly addressed. Thankfully, as studies like the CSP's suggest, they are generally predictable years ahead of time and can be accounted for with proper infrastructural changes.
The benefits of wildlife road crossings are clear and long agreed upon. They not only improve driver safety and reduce animal mortality but also provide habitat connectivity and, as this CSP study suggests, can also support ecosystems in adapting to climate change.
As the study's abstract reads, "Among other climate-adaptive benefits, research suggests crossings can support species range shifts and protect access to resources even as drought and human development compromise that access."
What's being done to enable safe wildlife crossings?
Several large wildlife crossing projects have begun in recent years. What is projected to be the world's largest crossing, west of Los Angeles, completed construction on its first girders in May 2024, while the Federal Highway Administration approved a large grant for a crossing across the Massachusetts Turnpike and Interstate 90 in December 2024.
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Definitely 👍 As far as projects specifically to combat these elk migration patterns go, no crossings out west have been formally announced yet, but scientists and researchers are adamant in proclaiming their necessity going forward.
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"Wildlife crossings can enable continued access to new or expanding ranges, or continued access to resources like, say, forage that's shifting in time and space," says Caitlin Littlefield director of climate adaptation science at Conservation Science Partners and the aforementioned study's lead author.
"It's important that new crossings are built to withstand climate-driven extreme weather, such as heavy rainfall, flooding, and heatwaves."
Meanwhile, reducing our production of pollution can slow the rate of rising global temperatures, which leads to unpredictable weather changes that shift elk migration patterns and risks damage to safe crossings.
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