Data-driven stories about species on the move — and under pressure.
Earth's species are being pushed, pulled, blocked, and freed by a changing climate and accelerating human pressure. RangeShift tracks what the data shows: where species are going, why they're moving, what hybridizes at new frontiers, and what disappears.
When biologists talk about climate and biodiversity, extinction gets the headlines. But equally consequential — and far less legibly told — is the reorganization of where species live, who they encounter, and what pressures they face when they get there.
A warming winter moves an armadillo's range north. That same warmth opens new overlap between two previously separated species — and hybridization begins. A third species, unable to move fast enough, loses its range without gaining new habitat — extirpation. And throughout this reorganization, the infrastructure of illegal wildlife trade adapts, exploiting both the new arrivals and the newly vulnerable.
RangeShift tells each of these stories with data — the same rigor applied to every lens, the same commitment to citable, reviewable, reproducible methodology.
Species finding new ground — or losing old ground — as thermal envelopes expand, contract, or shift poleward.
When newly overlapping ranges bring previously separated species into contact, unexpected genetic mixing — and sometimes functional extinction — follows.
Local and regional population collapse — the quiet disappearance of species from places they've occupied for millennia, faster than any range expansion can compensate.
The structural pressures — deforestation, wetland drainage, and the illegal trade networks that exploit stressed populations — that interact with every other phenomenon on this list.
Each story type has its own data model, visual framework, and set of source databases. What they share: citable evidence, explicit uncertainty, and scientific review before publication.
Species moving into new ranges or losing historical ones in response to changing temperature regimes, precipitation patterns, or sea level. Both native species finding new habitat and invasives consolidating new territory.
● 1 story published · 4 in research
When range expansion brings previously isolated species into contact, hybridization can follow — sometimes producing viable offspring, sometimes genetically swamping a rare species. Sea turtles, polar bears × grizzlies, and several warbler species are documented cases.
○ Stories in pipeline
Species disappearing from regions they've historically occupied — without going globally extinct, but losing the ecological role they played in a specific place. Often the slow-moving consequence of multiple overlapping pressures: habitat fragmentation, climate stress, disease.
○ Stories in pipeline
Deforestation, wetland drainage, coral bleaching, and sea ice loss — the large-scale habitat changes that determine whether species have anywhere to move to, or anywhere to stay. Told through satellite data and long-term monitoring records.
○ Stories in pipeline
Illegal wildlife trade doesn't operate independently of ecological stress — it intensifies it. When a population is already fragmented by habitat loss or climate pressure, trafficking can push it past a tipping point. Told through CITES seizure data and TRAFFIC analysis.
○ Stories in pipeline
We apply a consistent analytical framework across all story types — with the specific data sources and visualizations adapted to each. Every story is reviewed by a domain scientist before publication.
Each case study applies the RangeShift framework to a documented, data-supported phenomenon. Filter by story type — the full taxonomy is already here, waiting for the research.
Every number, map, and trend line on this site is traceable to a published source. Here's how we approach the work.
We source records from GBIF, iNaturalist, state wildlife agencies, and peer-reviewed compilations. GPS coordinates plotted exactly where available; county centroids flagged when used.
NOAA NCEI statewide time series and State Climate Summaries for US stories. Copernicus / ERA5 for global coverage. Global Forest Watch and JRC for land-use change. Version and access date always cited.
Each published case study has been reviewed by a domain scientist before publication. Open questions are explicitly flagged in the narrative — not buried in footnotes.
Where data is modeled, interpolated, or incomplete, we say so. Projections are distinguished from observations. Our credibility depends on this distinction being visible.
Range data changes. We commit to revisiting each case study at least annually, flagging when datasets have been updated, and revising conclusions when the evidence warrants it.
The data, code, and methodology behind every visualization are available on request. We welcome verification, extension, and critique from researchers and journalists.
RangeShift was built to fill a specific gap: rigorous, data-driven storytelling about climate and pressure-driven species change, made accessible to the audiences that need it most — NGO staff, conservation funders, wildlife managers, policy teams, and a public that is paying more attention than the field sometimes gives it credit for.
The evidence is robust. The datasets — GBIF, NOAA, USGS, CITES, iNaturalist — are open and powerful. What has been missing is the connective tissue between that evidence and a narrative that lands with the clarity and urgency the data deserves. That's what we build.
Each story is produced using a reproducible pipeline: published occurrence records, publicly available climate and land-use data, and peer-reviewed literature as the evidentiary foundation. Code, data, and methodology are available to any researcher, journalist, or organization that wants to verify, extend, or build on this work.
RangeShift is a portfolio in active development. If you're an NGO, research institution, or science journalist with a story you want told — or data you want visualized — we'd like to hear from you.
We're interested in partnerships with conservation organizations, research institutions, and science journalists. Data collaborations, commissions, and editorial partnerships are all welcome.