Decline of the North American avifauna

Abstract

Staggering decline of bird populations Because birds are conspicuous and easy to identify and count, reliable records of their occurrence have been gathered over many decades in many parts of the world. Drawing on such data for North America, Rosenberg et al. report wide-spread population declines of birds over the past half-century, resulting in the cumulative loss of billions of breeding individuals across a wide range of species and habitats. They show that declines are not restricted to rare and threatened species—those once considered common and wide-spread are also diminished. These results have major implications for ecosystem integrity, the conservation of wildlife more broadly, and policies associated with the protection of birds and native ecosystems on which they depend. Science , this issue p. 120

Keywords

Affiliated Institutions

• United States Geological Survey US
• The Nature Conservancy US
• Georgetown University US
• American Bird Conservancy
• Cornell University US
• National Zoological Park US
• Environment and Climate Change Canada CA
• Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute US

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