Climate Connections features Paul Taillie

The Yale radio program focused on conserving the silver rice rat in the Florida Keys

The Yale Climate Connections radio program shared TWS member Paul Taillie’s expertise on how sea level rise and urban development are increasingly challenging a small rodent in the Florida Keys. Silver rice rats (Oryzomys palustris natator) live in coastal marshes and swamps, where they eat critters like crabs and snails. But sea level rise is flooding some of the rats’ habitat and has caused the species to move to higher elevations. Taillie, who is the Secretary-Treasurer of The Wildlife Society’s Wetlands Working Group, said there is a limit to how far they can go, especially with urban development. “This is this idea of coastal squeeze, where animals are kind of squeezed between urban development and rising sea levels,” Taillie told Yale Climate Connections. Taillie’s research has shown that over the next few decades, the species’ habitat will continue to shrink, and it can go extinct by the end of the century. Yale Climate Connections interviewed Taillie at The Wildlife Society’s 2024 Annual Conference in Baltimore, Maryland.

Listen to the radio segment here and read an accompanying article on the Yale Climate Connections website.

Header Image: Silver rice rats face threats of sea level rise and urbanization. Credit: Irbobay