Ecology and Conservation of Forest Birds

Description

Ecology and Conservation of Forest Birds is a unique review of current understanding of the relationships between forest birds and their changing environments. Large ecological changes are being driven by forest management, climate change, introduced pests and pathogens, abiotic disturbances, and overbrowsing. Many forest bird species have suffered population declines, with the situation being particularly severe for birds dependent on attributes such as dead wood, old trees and structurally complex forests. With a focus on the non-tropical parts of the Northern Hemisphere, the text addresses the fundamental evolutionary and ecological aspects of forest birds using original data analyses and synthesising reviews. The characteristics of bird assemblages and their habitats in different European forest types are explored, together with the macroecological patterns of bird diversity and conservation issues. The book provides a valuable reference for ecologists, ornithologists, conservation professionals, forest industry employees, and those interested in birds and nature.

Grzegorz Mikusinski is an ecologist with research interests centred on conservation and management of forest biodiversity, with a particular focus on forest birds and their habitat. He is affiliated with the Forest Faculty of the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), where he also teaches ecology at the School for Forest Management. Jean-Michel Roberge is a conservation biologist with a special interest in avian ecology and biodiversity studies in northern forests. He has a long experience of research and teaching at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), and is now a conservation specialist at the Swedish Forest Agency. Robert J. Fuller is Emeritus Research Fellow at the British Trust for Ornithology and Honorary Professor at the University of East Anglia. His central interests focus on temperate forest biodiversity, especially birds. The effects of forest management, the impacts of deer browsing and conservation strategies form the core of his work. He is author of Bird Life of Woodland and Forest (Cambridge, 1995) and editor of Birds and Habitat: Relationships in Changing Landscapes (Cambridge, 2012).

'Every experienced ornithologist knows that there is an intangible magic about the community of birds, and their interactions with other species, in a mature forest - this book puts some science behind that magic we know.' Hugh Possingham, Chief Scientist of the Nature Conservancy