Publicación conjunta de Durham University, RSPB y Lynx Edicions en asociación con University of Cambridge, BirdLife International y EBCC. Se trata del primer libro que realiza una investigación exhaustiva de la relación entre la distribución de las aves nidificantes en Europa y el clima actual, y de cómo el cambio climático podría alterar la distribución potencial de nidificación de cada especie. Los resultados se presentan de manera detallada para 431 especies, con reseñas breves para otras 48 especies nativas y 16 introducidas. El volumen incluye resúmenes de los patrones climáticos y de vegetación en Europa, un análisis biogeográfico de las aves nidificantes de dicho continente, una revisión de la base de los estudios sobre las relaciones entre la distribución de las especies y el clima y un debate sobre los métodos utilizados en dichos estudios. Contiene también un sumario de los cambios previstos que experimentará el clima en Europa hasta finales de siglo así como un debate sobre la respuesta de las especies al cambio climático. Además, para cada una de las 431 especies, se incluye un breve resumen de su distribución y ecología, mapas de su distribución recientemente corregida y de su potencial futura distribución a finales del siglo XXI, una representación gráfica de la respuesta de cada especie a las tres variables bioclimáticas principales, acompañada de un texto describiendo los posibles efectos que el cambio climático pueda tener sobre dichas especies. Finalmente, se incluye una síntesis y una recapitulación de los resultados obtenidos del conjunto de 431 especies examinadas y una sección final presentando las implicaciones de estos resultados, especialmente con respecto a la conservación de aves en Europa.

Presenting an integrated picture of the distribution and abundance of the breeding birds of Europe, this text compiles and organizes bird survey data from all over Europe. Over 100 regional and national atlases have been produced, surveying areas from such obscure regions as Madeira and the Azores. It describes the present and allows the reader to predict success of future conservation initiatives and the failures of further habitat loss and degradation.

The average person can name more bird species than they think, but do we really know what a bird “species” is? This open access book takes up several fascinating aspects of bird life to elucidate this basic concept in biology. From genetic and physiological basics to the phenomena of bird song and bird migration, it analyzes various interactions of birds – with their environment and other birds. Lastly, it shows imminent threats to birds in the Anthropocene, the era of global human impact. Although it seemed to be easy to define bird species, the advent of modern methods has challenged species definition and led to a multidisciplinary approach to classifying birds. One outstanding new toolbox comes with the more and more reasonably priced acquisition of whole-genome sequences that allow causative analyses of how bird species diversify. Speciation has reached a final stage when daughter species are reproductively isolated, but this stage is not easily detectable from the phenotype we observe. Culturally transmitted traits such as bird song seem to speed up speciation processes, while another behavioral trait, migration, helps birds to find food resources, and also coincides with higher chances of reaching new, inhabitable areas. In general, distribution is a major key to understanding speciation in birds. Examples of ecological speciation can be found in birds, and the constant interaction of birds with their biotic environment also contributes to evolutionary changes. In the Anthropocene, birds are confronted with rapid changes that are highly threatening for some species. Climate change forces birds to move their ranges, but may also disrupt well-established interactions between climate, vegetation, and food sources. This book brings together various disciplines involved in observing bird species come into existence, modify, and vanish. It is a rich resource for bird enthusiasts who want to understand various processes at the cutting edge of current research in more detail. At the same time it offers students the opportunity to see primarily unconnected, but booming big-data approaches such as genomics and biogeography meet in a topic of broad interest. Lastly, the book enables conservationists to better understand the uncertainties surrounding “species” as entities of protection.

A fascinating insight into what climate change means for birds, and the consequences of ignoring the warning signs provided by them.

Devoted to birds and wildlife since childhood, Mark’s early scientific research at Oxford, Aberdeen and the RSPB provided a solid background for his management, ambassadorial, and political lobbying activities which were to follow – and his larger than life, yet quietly humane personality has provided the final tools in his own, unique, nature conservationists’ toolbox. In this book, Mark mixes a great many stories from his professional life at the RSPB with personal anecdotes and passionate arguments on past and present issues in bird and nature conservation. He shows us something of the many scientists whose work paves the way for conservation action, places domestic conservation into an international context, takes us behind the scenes to glimpse the politicians who have worked with him, or against him, along the way. Mark leaves us armed with practical tips and a guiding philosophy to take wildlife conservation though the troubled years that lie ahead. A personal, philosophical and political history of 25 years of bird conservation, this book provides an instructive and amusing read for all those who would like a glimpse into the birds and wildlife conservation world – what the issues are, what must be done, how it can be done, and the challenges, highs and lows involved.

From the bestselling author of The Robin: A Biography, Stephan Moss: The wren is a paradox of a bird. They are Britain's most common bird, with 8.5 million breeding pairs and have by far the loudest song in proportion to their size. They also thrive up and down Britain and Ireland: from the smallest city garden to remote offshore islands, blustery moors to chilly mountains. Yet many people are not sure if they have ever seen a wren. Perhaps because the wren is so tiny, weighing just as much as two A4 sheets of paper, and so busy, always on the move, more mouse than bird. However if we cast our eyes back to recent history wrens were a mainstay of literary, cultural and popular history. The wren was on postage stamps and the farthing, it featured in nursery rhymes and greetings cards, poems and rural 'wren hunts', still a recent memory in Ireland particularly. With beautiful illustrations throughout, this captivating year-in-the-life biography reveals the hidden secrets of this fascinating bird that lives right on our doorstep.