Impacts of Climate Change on Animal Behaviour: A Review

Abstract

Climate change is altering the physical and biological conditions in which animals live, and behaviour is often the first trait through which a species responds. Rising temperatures, shifting rainfall, ocean acidification and more frequent extreme weather events are changing when, where and how animals migrate, breed, forage, communicate and interact with predators and competitors. This narrative review brings together evidence from terrestrial, marine and freshwater systems, including recent primary studies on primates, ungulates, marine turtles, waterfowl, beetles and river otters, to summarise how climate change is influencing behavioural ecology across taxa. Phenological shifts in migration and reproduction are considered alongside changes in foraging and social behaviour, altered predator-prey dynamics, and the physiological pathways that underlie behavioural flexibility, before turning to conservation implications and the methodological challenges that still limit firm generalisation in this field. Behaviour appears to act both as a buffer against environmental change and as an early warning signal of ecological stress, making its study central to forecasting the fate of wild populations in a warming world. The review closes with priority directions for future work, including longer-term monitoring, multi-stressor experiments and closer collaboration between behavioural ecologists and conservation practitioners.