More mosquitoes, less birdsong: Increasingly extreme El Ninos may favour pests while other animals swelter

“We really can’t tell until we have a few (El Ninos), and we start seeing birds take hits,” he said.

NO HUMAN FOOD, NO GUARANTEES

Without the certainty of guaranteed food sources, animals that are not adapted to live alongside people are more vulnerable to unpredictable El Nino events that could disrupt cycles that plants and animals rely on, resulting in ripple effects in Singapore’s ecosystem and food web.

Heat and haze may affect insect life cycles and their ability to reproduce, causing an “extinction lag” over time as populations struggle to adapt, said Assoc Prof Slade.

If insect populations crash, “this has knock-on effects for birds, for bats, for other mammals and things that feed on the insects as well”, she added.

“Usually, breeding success is very related to food availability,” said Dr Movin, adding that fewer insects could directly result in bird deaths or failed breeding attempts.

Assoc Prof Slade warned that resulting biodiversity loss could be “deceptive” as such a decline may not mean fewer individuals or a loss of ecosystem function.

Likening a robust ecosystem to a diversified fund, Assoc Prof Slade said that the vulnerability of having poorer biodiversity is often called the “portfolio effect”. 

“There will always be species that survive … and new communities will form, but what communities those are and whether they’re useful communities for us is another thing,” she said.

So while mosquitoes thrive and pigeons find refuge in coffee shops, Singapore’s less adaptable wildlife may retreat from view. And as El Nino events grow more extreme, the question is how much more disruption they can withstand.