Climate change could restrict habitat availability for Western Ghats birds such as The Nilgiri Wood Pigeon, warn researchers

Researchers warn that climate change may drastically limit habitats for the Nilgiri Wood Pigeon in the Western Ghats.

Climate change could lead to the habitat of Western Ghats endemic species such as the Nilgiri Wood Pigeon (Columba elphinstonii) become extremely limited to a few isolated pockets by the end of the century, a recent research paper warns.

The study, titled “Biogeography and habitat suitability of the Nilgiri Wood Pigeon using MaxEnt”, published in the “Proceedings of the Indian National Science Academy” used MaxEnt, a machine-learning method to model habitat suitability for species, and estimates that the Nilgiri Wood Pigeon (NWP) faces a bleak future marked by “sharp declines in high-suitability areas and marked range contractions.”

The natural habitat of the pigeon comprises high-elevation wet evergreen and adjoining moist deciduous forests, particularly in regions such as The Nilgiris and Anamalai Hills in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Isolated populations are also reported from locations such as the Biligirirangan Hills, Nandi Hills, and northern Maharashtra.

These ecosystems, often described as “sky islands”, are recognised for their high levels of endemism and ecological specialisation. The pigeon’s restricted elevational range, patchy distribution, and dependence on undisturbed canopy conditions make it a highly specialised species, the authors of the paper — Phillmon Smart Edward, Jeyasubashini Reghupathikannan, and Arockianathan Samson — note adding that Western ghats specialists such as the NWP are particularly vulnerable to anthropogenic pressures such as deforestation, agricultural and infrastructure expansion, plantation development and climate change.

The researchers used 9,757 occurrence records for the species from the eBird database – a citizen-science project that allows users to record bird sightings. Using the occurrence records, the researchers identified 117 presence points for the species and modelled environmental projections using nine bioclimatic variables.

The model predicts that while habitat suitability for the species would initially witness an increase, due to lower montane areas becoming more suitable for the species between the years 2021 to 2040, that this trend would begin reversing by 2081-2100, with “sharp declines in high suitability areas.”