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A horizon scanning assessment of current and potential future threats to migratory shorebirds
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An expert panel of shorebird researchers conducted a horizon scan and identified 45 current and emerging threats to migratory shorebirds — including plastic pollution, habitat loss, climate change, and disease. The study provides a research and conservation roadmap for a globally declining group of birds that use coastal and wetland habitats.
We review the conservation issues facing migratory shorebird populations that breed in temperate regions and use wetlands in the non‐breeding season. Shorebirds are excellent model organisms for understanding ecological, behavioural and evolutionary processes and are often used as indicators of wetland health. A global team of experienced shorebird researchers identified 45 issues facing these shorebird populations, and divided them into three categories (natural, current anthropogenic and future issues). The natural issues included megatsunamis, volcanoes and regional climate changes, while current anthropogenic threats encompassed agricultural intensification, conversion of tidal flats and coastal wetlands by human infrastructure developments and eutrophication of coastal systems. Possible future threats to shorebirds include microplastics, new means of recreation and infectious diseases. We suggest that this review process be broadened to other taxa to aid the identification and ranking of current and future conservation actions.
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Plastic pollution threatens shorebirds: a global review
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This systematic review summarizes global research on how plastic pollution threatens shorebirds through ingestion and entanglement. The findings highlight that microplastics are spreading throughout coastal ecosystems, and since shorebirds serve as indicators of environmental health, their contamination signals broader risks to the food webs that also affect human communities.
Shorebirds ingest plastics too: what we know, what we do not know, and what we should do next
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This review synthesized existing knowledge on plastic ingestion by shorebirds, finding that despite high potential exposure through foraging in contaminated habitats, research on shorebird plastic ingestion remains limited and requires more systematic investigation.
Plastic pollution threatens shorebirds: a global review
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This systematic review summarizes global research on how plastic pollution threatens shorebirds. While focused on wildlife rather than human health, it highlights the sheer scale of microplastic contamination in coastal environments where both birds and humans interact with the same food web.
Review of contaminant levels and effects in shorebirds: Knowledge gaps and conservation priorities
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This review assessed contaminant levels and effects in shorebirds across 93 studies, finding significant knowledge gaps regarding microplastics, pharmaceuticals, and emerging pollutants, and identifying contamination as an understudied but important threat to declining shorebird populations.
Pollution Status of the North-Central Selangor Coast as an Important Shorebirds Area
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The North-central Selangor coast in Malaysia faces escalating threats from heavy metals, microplastic pollution, coastal erosion, and climate change, with microplastics particularly concentrated during high tide when shorebirds conduct 70% of their foraging. This study highlights the intersection of microplastic exposure and shorebird conservation, emphasizing the need to address plastic pollution as an urgent threat to migratory waterbird populations at critical coastal habitats.
Research digests by email
When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.