This summary was written by Hamed Kioumarsi, EBM at Springer Nature, in collaboration with Reza Naseri Harsini and Ali Maddahian from the Animal Science Research Department, Gilan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Rasht, Iran. It aims to provide a concise yet comprehensive overview of Climate Change and Wild Animal Nutrition.

Citation: Kioumarsi, H., Naseri Harsini , R., & Maddahian, A. (2025). Climate Change and Wild Animal Nutrition. Springer Nature Communities. https://communities.springernature.com/posts/climate-change-and-wild-animal-nutrition

Abstract

Climate action is concerted global action aimed at avoiding climate change and reducing its vast impacts through policies and scientific innovation focused on safeguarding the planet. The health of ecosystems and the existence of millions of species depend on these actions, as climate change continues to change the natural world. From ice caps in the Arctic to rainforests, warming temperatures and shifting weather patterns are transforming ecological balance. Plant and animal life of wildlife populations are being subjected to growing stresses as rising temperature differences, elevated atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide (CO₂), and greater frequency of extreme weather events transform the productivity, quality, and nutritional content of their food bases. Climate change impacts ecosystems through changes in temperature, seasonal cycles, and chemical composition of the air, water, soil, and food.

Rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns influence plant development, composition, and seasonal variation. In grasslands, warming speeds up plant aging, lowering digestibility and increasing fiber, while higher CO₂ often reduces protein levels. Reduced rainfall and drought reduce forage biomass and quality, resulting in seasonal feed deficits. They can no longer supply herbivores with the nutrients that they need, forcing them to change their diets and move greater distances.

Predators and omnivores are similarly affected when prey abundance or condition declines. This reduces nutrient transfer up the food chain. Seasonal mismatches between predator energy demands and prey availability can arise, and extreme events like droughts, floods, and heatwaves may drive prey into lower-quality habitats, further stressing predators.

Nutritional stress has clear ecological and physiological consequences: poor body condition, weakened immunity, reduced reproduction, slowed growth, increasing disease risk, and in severe cases, mortality. Many birds and small mammals show lower breeding success or delayed reproduction when food quality drops or foraging costs rise. These effects change ecosystem dynamics, animal populations, and species interactions. Adaptations include changing diet composition, shifting seasonal behaviors, moving to more favorable habitats, or adjusting physiology. However, adaptive capacity is limited by the rapid pace of climate change, habitat fragmentation, and competition.

There are remaining gaps in research—especially long-term, multi-species experiments on nutritional impacts under projections of future climate, and data on micronutrient changes. Small mammals, reptiles, amphibians, insects, and tropical animals are disproportionately understudied compared to large mammals. Effective conservation must include nutritional ecology measures such as restoring forage diversity types, genetic and species diversity conservation, and supplemental feeding in extreme circumstances without disturbing natural behaviors. Both nutrient quality and abundance should be tracked, and climate-related dietary models can be utilized to predict upcoming food shortages.

In general, climate change induces complex and multidimensional nutritional stresses at all food need levels in all animal species, affecting energy intake, growth, and reproductive success. Temperature, precipitation patterns, and habitat quality alterations alter the quality, availability, and timing of food resources. While a few adaptable species can change diet or behavior to adapt to such changes, most others experience severe stress that can lead to population decline, destabilization of food webs, and even to extinction. Increasing our understanding of these dietary effects is central to constructing effective strategies to protect biodiversity, maintain ecosystem resilience, and provide long-term environmental integrity.

Increasing our consciousness of the ways in which global climate change alters food and nutrient balances is therefore at the core of designing sustainable climate mitigation and conservation policies. Maintaining biodiversity, promoting ecosystem stability, and securing long-term environmental integrity require an interacting world partnership in resolving climate change not merely as an atmospheric or physical issue but as a multifaceted biological and nutritional challenge confronting all living organisms on the planet.

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