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Low-Elevation Coastal Habitats for Birds

Low-elevation coastal habitats for birds are in danger not only from global warming but also from human contamination. Coastal habitats provide homes for many birds whose diet comes from fish and other marine life. The oceans provide their meals, and the cliffs and shorelines offer areas for nesting and rearing young. Oil spills, seepage from boats and ocean liners as well as human trash combine to pollute the water and shores creating an unsafe and changing environment for the birds that rely on these areas for survival.

Environmental Changes
- Increased storm activity and severity erode shorelines and change bird habitats.
  
  Carbon pollution is the largest contributor to global warming, which in turn increases ambient air temperature. This warming air creates warmer oceans and increased storm activity that erode shorelines and change existing habitats. Warmer oceans also cause the coastal birds' aquatic food supply to migrate away from these low-level habitats to areas more suited to their survival. The combination of changing shorelines and declining food supply are detrimental to birds relying on these low-level coastal habitats for survival.
Coastal Food Supply
- Changes from runoff can kill the coastal birds' food supply.
  
  Increased storm activity from global warming raises the flow of runoff into the low-level environments, which in turn introduces excessive nutrients and changes the salinity of these coastal areas. Increased nutrients and salinity kill the marine life and greatly reduce the food available for birds in this habitat. As the food sources decline, the bird population declines as well. This sets the stage for potential extinction of some bird species.
Pollution from Humans
- Oil spills coat a birds feathers and can kill them.
  
  Human pollution in the form of oil spills and wastes from ocean vessels contaminate the waters of the coastal bird habitats killing food sources and creating a toxic environment. Adult birds not only consume marine life contaminated with waste from ships but also feed their young with this contaminated food source greatly diminishing chances that the young will survive to adulthood. Oil on ocean surfaces also coats birds' feathers preventing them from flying and hunting. This could potentially kill them if humans do not intervene.
Solutions
- Steps to minimize the loss of low-elevation coastal habitats from include building oyster reefs to buffer the erosion of coastal shores from increased severe storm activity. Coastal human communities must also recognize the harmful affect of building sea barriers along coastal towns. Sea barriers prevent beaches, marshes and wetlands to move inland as the rising sea levels destroy existing shores. Carbon pollution reduction can minimize the environmental changes caused by global warming. The installation of safety measures to reduce oil and waste seepage into the ocean will help preserve the food source necessary for coastal bird populations.

Nature