Climate Change in the PLJV Region

PLJV Assessing Climate Change Impacts on Birds and Habitats

In an effort to conserve birds now and into the future, the PLJV recently conducted an assessment of the impacts of climate change in the playa lakes region. The assessment, Anthropogenic Climate Change in the Playa Lakes Joint Venture Region: Understanding Impacts, Discerning Trends, and Developing Responses, serves to inform PLJV partners of the realized and potential impacts of climate change to bird habitats and populations in the region, and to recommend appropriate habitat conservation actions to compensate for these impacts. The assessment was authored by Dr. John Matthews, Climate Change Adaptation Specialist with the World Wildlife Fund.

Summary of Assessment findings:


  • Summers are becoming drier across the entire region, and in the North and East, winters and springs are becoming wetter and warmer.
  • The Southwestern and Southern regions are drying out, potentially reaching dust-bowl conditions by mid-century.
  • Floods and droughts will become more frequent, with flooding and extreme precipitation events elevating sedimentation runoff into playas.
  • Many types of habitat will be transformed by mid-century. Some may effectively be eliminated, while others will shift to the North and East.
  • Most bird species are expected to respond with easterly shifts in migration patterns, changes in the timing of migration, and northerly shifts in overwintering and breeding ranges. However, not all species will respond to climate change the same.