Climate change threatens Nilgiri Wood Pigeon habitat in Western Ghats

Key facts

• A research paper titled Biogeography and habitat suitability of the Nilgiri Wood Pigeon using MaxEnt warns that climate change could restrict the habitat of the Nilgiri Wood Pigeon (Columba elphinstonii) to isolated pockets by 2100.
• The study, published in the Proceedings of the Indian National Science Academy, utilised MaxEnt, a machine-learning method, to model habitat suitability for the species.
• The Nilgiri Wood Pigeon (NWP) is endemic to the Western Ghats, inhabiting high-elevation wet evergreen and moist deciduous forests in the Nilgiris, Anamalai Hills, Biligirirangan Hills, Nandi Hills, and northern Maharashtra.
• Researchers used 9,757 occurrence records from the eBird database, a citizen-science project, to identify 117 presence points and model environmental projections using nine bioclimatic variables.
• The model predicts that habitat suitability will initially increase between 2021 and 2040 before witnessing sharp declines in high-suitability areas by the period 2081-2100.
• The study highlights the phenomenon of up-slope shifting, where species move higher up mountain slopes as climate change alters their preferred habitats and food sources.
• Although the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) recently down-listed the NWP to Least Concern, researchers from the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) advocate for systematic ground surveys to validate population thresholds.
• The NWP is one of 16 bird species occupying mid and high-elevation parts of the Western Ghats that are highly susceptible to climate change and anthropogenic pressures like deforestation.