Birds as monitors of environmental change
01 Jan 1993-Vol. 19, Iss: 1, pp 156
TL;DR: In this paper, birds are used as indicators of change in water quality and change in marine prey stocks in the tropics of the world, and as monitors of radionuclide contamination.
Abstract: Can birds be used to monitor the environment? Environmental change. Birds as monitors of radionuclide contamination. Birds as indicators of change in water quality. Birds as monitors of pollutants. Seabirds as indicators of change in marine prey stocks. Migrants as monitors of change in the tropics. An integrated approach to assessing environmental changes affecting birds. Synthesis and future prospects.
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TL;DR: The EU Rural Development Regulation (1257/99) provides an opportunity to implement measures for alleviating ecological impacts of arable management through a combination of cross-compliance and agri-environment schemes that integrate social, cultural, economic and ecological objectives for multifunctional land use.
1,223 citations
Cites background from "Birds as monitors of environmental ..."
...Birds provide good indicators of environmental change as they are easily monitored, well researched, long-lived and high in the food chain (Furness and Greenwood, 1993)....
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TL;DR: It is argued that the farmland bird indicator is a useful surrogate for trends in other elements of biodiversity in this habitat, and developed statistical methods to calculate supranational, multi-species indices using population data from national annual breeding bird surveys in Europe.
Abstract: The global pledge to deliver ‘a significant reduction in the current rate of biodiversity loss by 2010’ is echoed in a number of regional and national level targets. There is broad consensus, however, that in the absence of conservation action, biodiversity will continue to be lost at a rate unprecedented in the recent era. Remarkably, we lack a basic system to measure progress towards these targets and, in particular, we lack standard measures of biodiversity and procedures to construct and assess summary statistics. Here, we develop a simple classification of biodiversity indicators to assist their development and clarify purpose. We use European birds, as example taxa, to show how robust indicators can be constructed and how they can be interpreted. We have developed statistical methods to calculate supranational, multi-species indices using population data from national annual breeding bird surveys in Europe. Skilled volunteers using standardized field methods undertake data collection where methods and survey designs differ slightly across countries. Survey plots tend to be widely distributed at a national level, covering many bird species and habitats with reasonable representation. National species' indices are calculated using log-linear regression, which allows for plot turnover. Supranational species' indices are constructed by combining the national species' indices weighted by national population sizes of each species. Supranational, multi-species indicators are calculated by averaging the resulting indices. We show that common farmland birds in Europe have declined steeply over the last two decades, whereas woodland birds have not. Evidence elsewhere shows that the main driver of farmland bird declines is increased agricultural intensification. We argue that the farmland bird indicator is a useful surrogate for trends in other elements of biodiversity in this habitat.
847 citations
Cites background from "Birds as monitors of environmental ..."
...B (2005) flagship species (Furness & Greenwood 1993; Caro & O’Doherty 1999)....
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...(b) Birds as indicators Birds are often, but not always, regarded as good general indicators of the broad state of wildlife and of the countryside, for both scientific and practical reasons (Furness & Greenwood 1993)....
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used stable isotopes of N and C from the same feathers used for mercury measurement, a technique that also permits the monitoring of trophic status over time or between regions.
Abstract: Many studies have shown that seabirds are sensitive to changes in food supply, and therefore have potential as monitors of fish stocks. For most seabird species breeding parameters suitable for biomonitoring have yet to be measured over a wide range of prey densities. However, it is clear that responses vary among species and care must be taken when interpreting seabird data as a proxy for fish abundance. For many years seabirds have also been used as monitors of pollution, especially oil pollution. Beached bird surveys provide important evidence of geographical and temporal patterns, and, for example, show consistent declines in oil release into the southern North Sea over the last 15 years. Analysis of oil on birds can now permit fingerprinting of sources, allowing prosecution of polluters. As predators high in marine food webs, seabirds also have potential as monitors of pollutants that accumulate at trophic levels. Recent work on mercury in seabirds has permitted an analysis of spatial patterns and of the rates of increase in mercury contamination of ecosystems over the last 150 years, since mercury concentrations in feathers of museum specimens can be used to assess contamination in the birds when they were alive. Surprisingly, pelagic seabirds show higher increases than most coastal ones, and increases have been greatest in seabirds feeding on mesopelagic prey. This seems to relate to patterns of methylation of mercury in low-oxygen, deeper water. Accurate measurement of long-term trends in mercury contamination depend on the assumption that seabird diet composition has not changed. This can be assessed by analysis of stable isotopes of N and C from the same feathers used for mercury measurement, a technique that also permits the monitoring of trophic status over time or between regions. While high mercury contamination of seabirds in the southern North Sea is unsurprising, we cannot yet explain certain unexpected results, such as high levels in seabirds from north Iceland compared with those from south Iceland or Scotland.
693 citations
Cites background from "Birds as monitors of environmental ..."
...However, to be useful, a biomonitor must respond in a sensitive way to changes in the variable for which it is a proxy measure (Furness and Greenwood, 1993)....
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...These characteristics qualify seabirds as biomonitors, and they are accepted and already in use as indicators of various aspects of the marine environment (e.g., Furness and Greenwood, 1993) either as sensitive indicators or as accumulative indicators of pollutants....
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TL;DR: To enhance comparability of findings among studies, species, and oceanographic regions, a recommendation on standards for the reporting of results in the literature is made.
Abstract: We review the different methods that are used to collect dietary data from marine birds. We consider their limitations and practicalities and emphasize critical data gaps in our knowledge of the feeding ecology of seabirds (na mely diets outside breeding seasons). To enhance comparability of findings among studies, species, and oceanographic regions, we make recommendations on standards for the reporting of results in the literature.
418 citations
TL;DR: The results indicate strong and contrasting effects of large-scale oceanographic processes and sea-ice extent on the demography of emperor penguins, and their potential high susceptibility to climate change.
Abstract: Variations in ocean-atmosphere coupling over time in the Southern Ocean have dominant effects on sea-ice extent and ecosystem structure, but the ultimate consequences of such environmental changes for large marine predators cannot be accurately predicted because of the absence of long-term data series on key demographic parameters. Here, we use the longest time series available on demographic parameters of an Antarctic large predator breeding on fast ice and relying on food resources from the Southern Ocean. We show that over the past 50 years, the population of emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) in Terre Adelie has declined by 50% because of a decrease in adult survival during the late 1970s. At this time there was a prolonged abnormally warm period with reduced sea-ice extent. Mortality rates increased when warm sea-surface temperatures occurred in the foraging area and when annual sea-ice extent was reduced, and were higher for males than for females. In contrast with survival, emperor penguins hatched fewer eggs when winter sea-ice was extended. These results indicate strong and contrasting effects of large-scale oceanographic processes and sea-ice extent on the demography of emperor penguins, and their potential high susceptibility to climate change.
409 citations