Socially Transmitted Migration Routes and Role as Conservation Assets in A Shifting Climate Envelope

Abstract

Migration routes play a vital role in species survival by providing key resources such as food, breeding
areas, and favourable climates. Climate change, however, is disrupting these routes, posing a
significant threat to biodiversity. The paper explores the socially transmitted migration routes
(STMRs), in which migration knowledge is learned socially, and how it is resilient in response to
climate change. Together with the climate models, this study simulates the impact of mild, moderate,
and extreme climate change conditions on the migration paths using long-term tracking data of
migratory birds and terrestrial mammals. The findings indicate that the species that depend on STMRs
are more resilient than those that depend on genetically inherited pathways. Particularly, species with
STMRs had greater viability of their migration routes, with some species, such as migratory birds,
having 95% viability in a moderate climate change but reducing to 55% in harsh environments, and
other species, taking genetically inherited routes, having a viability that decreases 90% to 40%.
Besides, conservation measures like the establishment of protected migration corridors and improved
social learning networks were modelled and led to the increase of migration routes' viability by 20 %
and species resilience by 30 %. These results indicate the importance of social learning in climate
change adaptation and the imperative of conserving migration routes, which are socially transmitted
as a component of conservation measures. The paper stresses that future conservation plans should
consider adaptive management and real-time monitoring in order to conserve these valuable corridors
as the climate keeps evolving very fast.