Migratory fuelling and global climate change

Climate-induced changes on habitats are likely to have impacts on staging, stopover ecology and fuelling in migratory birds. The effects of these changes on migratory birds are very speculative due to the lack of detailed studies and the uncertainty in climate models with respect to geographical patterns of changes but pronounced regional and species-specific differences are likely. Terrestrial birds and those using inland wetlands are likely to face more pronounced environmental challenges during migration than coastal migrants. Staging migrants may suffer from deteriorating habitats but they may, on the other hand, be able to counteract adverse conditions owing to considerable plasticity in their migratory performance.