Climate Change

Species benefiting from Climate Change

Due to rising temperatures and milder winters, species are shifting their ranges northwards to Scotland. Many southern insects, birds, and marine life previously restricted to warmer regions of England and Wales are now colonising Scottish landscapes, while warmer coastal waters are attracting new temperate marine species.

Specific species arriving or rapidly increasing in Scotland due to these shifting climate envelopes include:

Butterflies & Moths

• Orange-tip & Peacock Butterflies: Over the last 40 years, these species—previously rare in Scotland—have seen massive northward range expansions.

• Comma & Speckled Wood Butterflies: Both species are being recorded much more frequently across Scotland, with the comma butterfly becoming a newly established resident.

• Red Admiral: This highly mobile butterfly is now flourishing in much higher numbers year-round.

Terrestrial Birds

Scotland is increasingly becoming a "climate refuge" for species moving north.

• Nuthatch: Formerly entirely absent, this woodland bird has steadily expanded its range northwards into Scotland.

• Blackcap & Chiffchaff: These woodland birds have seen population increases of over 500% since 1994, attracted by milder Scottish winters.

• Willow Warbler: Once exclusively preferring warmer southern climates, their numbers have increased significantly in Scotland.

Marine & Coastal Life

• Purple Topshell: This marine snail is flourishing as sea temperatures rise, particularly along the west coast.

• Warm-water Plankton & Fish: Species that prefer warmer environments are gradually dominating areas that previously supported exclusively cold-water ecosystems.

Invasive Non-Native Species (INNS)

Warmer and wetter conditions provide perfect opportunities for aggressive, non-native plants and animals to spread and outcompete native habitats.

• Invasive plants: Species such as Rhododendron and Japanese Knotweed are taking advantage of milder weather to spread further into highland and coastal regions.

• Invasive amphibians: Non-native amphibians like the Alpine Newt (primarily around Edinburgh) are establishing populations as the climate warms. 

Species in danger of being lost from Scotland as a result of Climate Change

Around 1 in 9 species in Scotland is at risk of national extinction, heavily driven by climate change alongside habitat loss and disease. Warming temperatures, shifting prey patterns, and extreme weather are particularly devastating to cold-climate specialists and marine life.

Specific species currently facing severe extinction threats include:

Birds

• Scottish Crossbill: Found nowhere else in the world, this unique species is highly vulnerable as the pine forests they inhabit are impacted by a shifting climate.

• Capercaillie: The Capercaillie is restricted almost entirely to the Cairngorms; climate-induced shifts in forest biotopes and breeding failures have pushed them to the brink.

• Seabirds (Puffins, Kittiwakes, Arctic Skua): Puffins and Kittiwakes are red-listed and highly endangered. Rising sea temperatures and changing ocean currents are severely reducing the availability of their primary food sources, such as sand eels.

• Upland Waders: Montane breeders like the dotterel and whimbrel are being forced further north or up the mountains, with shrinking suitable habitats.

• Marine & Freshwater Life

• Freshwater Pearl Mussel: A cold-water species whose natural breeding conditions and growth are being compromised by warming Scottish rivers.

• Atlantic Salmon: Officially recognized as an endangered species by the IUCN, they are highly vulnerable to rising water temperatures and reduced summer water levels in famous rivers near areas like Pitlochry.

• Arctic Charr: Relic cold-water fish at their southern global limit in Scotland, struggling to survive in increasingly warm lochs. Loch Rannoch is home to three unique morphs of Charr.

Alpine Flora & Invertebrates

• Arctic-Alpine Plants: Specialized species like the snow pearlwort, drooping saxifrage, and mountain sandwort are retreating higher up the slopes of the southern Highlands (such as the Ben Lawers range) and are threatened by running out of mountain to climb.

• Pine Hoverfly: A highly endangered insect that has required dedicated, climate-controlled conservation breeding programs to survive.