Activities associated with cocaine trafficking threaten two-thirds of the most important landscapes in Central America for 196 forest bird species, including 67 migratory species. This is the key takeaway from a study that colleagues and I published in June 2024 in the journal Nature Sustainability.
Our findings suggest that there is real potential for drug-related deforestation to negatively affect populations of migratory birds. Many of these species are unusually concentrated in winter in Central America, which has a comparatively smaller area than their summer breeding regions in North America.
For 1 in 5 migratory species that travel to Central American forests annually, including familiar birds like the Baltimore oriole, more than 50% of their global population winters in areas that are becoming more attractive to traffickers. For half of migratory species, at least 25% of their populations winter in these areas.
Activities associated with cocaine trafficking threaten two-thirds of the most important landscapes in Central America for 196 forest bird species, including 67 migratory species. This is the key takeaway from a study that colleagues and I published in June 2024 in the journal Nature Sustainability.
Our findings suggest that there is real potential for drug-related deforestation to negatively affect populations of migratory birds. Many of these species are unusually concentrated in winter in Central America, which has a comparatively smaller area than their summer breeding regions in North America.
For 1 in 5 migratory species that travel to Central American forests annually, including familiar birds like the Baltimore oriole, more than 50% of their global population winters in areas that are becoming more attractive to traffickers. For half of migratory species, at least 25% of their populations winter in these areas.
Baltimore orioles are widely dispersed across the U.S. and Canada during breeding season, but are much more concentrated in Central America and northern South America in winter.eBird, CC BY-ND
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