Ghost Fauna

What happens to animals that are losing habitat because of sea level rise? They become ghost fauna. 

Just like “ghost forests” are forests of trees that couldn’t survive once the area was flooded, ghost fauna are animals that can no longer live in their homes once water covers the land.

For example, the Florida least shrew, an insectivore found in the Florida Keys, is disappearing as its island habitat shrinks with sea level rise. The North American least shrew, which lives on the low-lying Delmarva Peninsula off Chesapeake Bay, is also threatened by rising waters.

Animals displaced by sea level rise are at risk of disappearing forever. Once they do, all that will be left behind are the phantoms of their memory.

Image description: Illustration of gray/brown bare narrow trees in a swamp with no vegetation. Blue ghosts in the shape of the North American least shrew (Cryptotis parvus) ascend above the swamp.