ABSTRACT

Abstract. Millions of landbirds migrate annually through the Great Lakes region of North America, where protecting stopover habitat is a critical conservation concern, especially along highly developed coastlines. Observed and projected climate changes have the potential to alter the quality and phenology of resources and the migratory timing of landbirds. Based on our review of key migrantstopover habitat relationships in the Great Lakes region, we propose guidelines that address projected shifts in stopover conditions. Given the high uncertainty associated with the rate and magnitude of future changes in phenology, our approach increases the likelihood of achieving the conservation outcome of providing stopover sites that will sustain migrants as conditions change. We suggest that current efforts focus on protecting areas near the Great Lakes and other bodies of water, as well as on sharing key information

on stopover habitat needs broadly with other conservation planners and the general public. We propose that more attention be devoted to (1) identifying and protecting sites with ecological and topographic diversity, to retain variation in the phenology of resources during the migratory period; (2) enhancing and expanding the current network of stopover sites by increasing the size, habitat quality, and distribution of important stopover habitat; and (3) increasing protection of existing large habitat patches in the northern Great Lakes region, which are expected to be under increased development pressure as the climate warms.