CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE FATE OF THE SALTMARSH SPARROW

The greatest threat to the survival of this species is loss of critical habitat. Nests are flooding due to sea level rise, secondary to global warming.  As the marshes experience more frequent and higher-elevation flooding events, these ground-nesting birds cannot possibly alter their genetic blueprint in time to evolve a new nest-building strategy. They don't even have the option to migrate to higher ground within the marsh, as marshes are disappearing at an alarming rate. Please look at this summary of our work at Jacob's Point by Alex Kuffner in the Providence Journal: Against a rising tide, the saltmarsh sparrow could be headed for extinction.