Drought threatens America's wildlife
Dramatic Increases in Drought Threaten America's Wildlife
A forested landscape recently hit by a severe drought, including many drought and beetle-killed trees. Drought can both directly and indirectly impact wildlife through loss of water resources and habitat degradation.
Across the United States, environmental changes are dramatically increasing how often and how severely wildlife face drought conditions. New research suggests that between 2050–2080, terrestrial animals nationwide will experience a nearly fivefold increase in frequency of annual drought and a nearly sevenfold increase in prolonged drought compared to historical levels.
The projections reveal staggering increases in drought exposure across the forests, rangelands, wetlands, and deserts of the continental United States. Among wildlife groups, reptiles face the largest increases in drought exposure, followed by birds and mammals. Even amphibians, which showed the smallest increases, still face more than threefold increases in drought exposure.
Real-World Impacts: Desert Birds Show What's Coming
While significant drought increases are projected across most of the country, the already dry Southwest will experience the most extreme changes. To understand what these drought projections mean in practice, researchers studied 25 years of bird data from southwestern desert communities—regions already experiencing some of the most severe drought increases. The results provide a sobering preview of what increasing drought exposure means for bird abundance and diversity.
During severe drought years, bird communities suffered dramatic crashes. Nine species experienced 18-34% declines in abundance compared to average conditions, including common species like the Northern Mockingbird as well as desert specialists like the Cactus Wren. Overall, species richness—the number of different bird species observed at a given site—declined by 10% during severe droughts.
Importantly, no bird species showed positive responses to increased drought conditions, indicating that intensifying aridity consistently harms these communities.
Informing management and future science
These findings provide wildlife and land managers with critical information for prioritizing conservation efforts. The research identifies which regions and species face the greatest drought exposure increases, enabling prioritization strategies and guiding future research.
The desert bird study also reveals potential solutions. Areas with even small amounts of open water helped buffer wildlife communities against drought impacts, suggesting that strategic water resource management could help wildlife and their habitats survive in increasingly harsh conditions.