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Examines the environmental needs of birds around the world and the effect that human behavior has had on their ability to survive, with examples of the efforts being made by scientists and conservationists to save specific species of birds.

This is the first comprehensive environmental history of California’s Great Central Valley, where extensive freshwater and tidal wetlands once provided critical habitat for tens of millions of migratory waterfowl. Weaving together ecology, grassroots politics, and public policy, Philip Garone tells how California’s wetlands were nearly obliterated by vast irrigation and reclamation projects, but have been brought back from the brink of total destruction by the organized efforts of duck hunters, whistle-blowing scientists, and a broad coalition of conservationists. Garone examines the many demands that have been made on the Valley’s natural resources, especially by large-scale agriculture, and traces the unforeseen ecological consequences of our unrestrained manipulation of nature. He also investigates changing public and scientific attitudes that are now ushering in an era of unprecedented protection for wildlife and wetlands in California and the nation.

\"The successful conservation of bird species relies upon our understanding of their habitat use and requirements. In the coming decades the importance of such knowledge will only grow as climate change, the development of new energy sources and the needs of a growing human population intensify the, already significant, pressure on the habitats that birds depend on. Drawing on valuable recent advances in our understanding of bird-habitat relationships, this book provides the first major review of avian habitat selection in over twenty years. It offers a synthesis of concepts, patterns and issues that will interest students, researchers and conservation practitioners. Spatial scales ranging from landscape to habitat patch are covered, and examples of responses to habitat change are examined. European landscapes are the main focus, but the book has far wider significance to similar habitats worldwide, with examples and relevant material also drawn from North America and Australia\"-- Provided by publisher.

Each fall and spring, millions of birds travel the Pacific Flyway, the westernmost of the four major North American bird migration routes. The landscapes they cross vary from wetlands to farmland to concrete, inhabited not only by wildlife but also by farmers, suburban families, and major cities. In the twentieth century, farmers used the wetlands to irrigate their crops, transforming the landscape and putting migratory birds at risk. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service responded by establishing a series of refuges that stretched from northern Washington to southern California. What emerged from these efforts was a hybrid environment, where the distinctions between irrigated farms and wildlife refuges blurred. Management of the refuges was fraught with conflicting priorities and practices. Farmers and refuge managers harassed birds with shotguns and flares to keep them off private lands, and government pilots took to the air, dropping hand grenades among flocks of geese and herding the startled birds into nearby refuges. Such actions masked the growing connections between refuges and the land around them. Seeking Refuge examines the development and management of refuges in the wintering range of migratory birds along the Pacific Flyway. Although this is a history of efforts to conserve migratory birds, the story Robert Wilson tells has considerable salience today. Many of the key places migratory birds use the Klamath Basin, California s Central Valley, the Salton Sea are sites of recent contentious debates over water use. Migratory birds connect and depend on these landscapes, and farmers face pressure as water is reallocated from irrigation to other purposes. In a time when global warming promises to compound the stresses on water and migratory species, Seeking Refuge demonstrates the need to foster landscapes where both wildlife and people can thrive.

Because of their dependence on habitats and resources in different geographic regions at different phases of their annual cycle, migratory species are especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. In Bird Migration and Global Change, eminent ecologist George W. Cox brings his extensive experience to bear in evaluating the capacity of migratory birds to adapt to the challenges of a changing climate. The author reviews, synthesizes, and interprets recent and emerging science on the subject, beginning with a discussion of climate change and its effect on habitat, and followed by eleven chapters that examine responses of bird types across all regions of the globe. The final chapters address the evolutionary capacity of birds, and consider how best to shape conservation strategies to protect migratory species in coming decades.

Tests how long-lasting human modification to regional environmental filters can subsequently alter local biotic filters, in turn promoting the emergence of avian malaria in New Zealand avian communities. Unravels the drivers of disease emergence within the complex interplay between landscape and local species pools. Investigates whether altered landscape leads to more infections in Turdus spp. and modification in avian community composition, potentially raising the probability of infection for other species in the community. Looks at the role played by climatic variables associated with the presence of vectors in shaping the regional pattern of avian malaria occurrence. Source: National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, licensed by the Department of Internal Affairs for re-use under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand Licence.

Birds have inspired people since the dawn of time. They are the notes behind Mozart's genius, the colours behind Audubon's art and ballet's swansong. In The Birds They Sang, Stanisław Łubienski sheds light on some of history's most meaningful bird and human interactions, from historical bird watchers in a German POW camp, to Billy and Kes in A Kestrel for a Knave. He muses on what exactly Hitchcock's birds had in mind and reveals the true story behind the real James Bond. Undiscouraged by damp, discomfort and a reed bunting's curse, Łubienski bears witness to the difficulties birds face today, as people fail to accommodate them in rapidly changing times.

Wind energy development is the most recent of many pressures on upland bird communities and their habitats. Studies of birds in relation to wind energy development have focused on effects of direct mortality, but the importance of indirect effects (e.g., displacement, habitat loss) on avian community diversity and stability is increasingly being recognized. We used a control-impact study in combination with a gradient design to assess the effects of wind farms on upland bird densities and on bird species grouped by habitat association (forest and open-habitat species). We conducted 506 point count surveys at 12 wind-farm and 12 control sites in Ireland during 2 breeding seasons (2012 and 2013). Total bird densities were lower at wind farms than at control sites, and the greatest differences occurred close to turbines. Densities of forest species were significantly lower within 100 m of turbines than at greater distances, and this difference was mediated by habitat modifications associated with wind-farm development. In particular, reductions in forest cover adjacent to turbines was linked to the observed decrease in densities of forest species. Open-habitat species’ densities were lower at wind farms but were not related to distance from turbines and were negatively related to size of the wind farm. This suggests that, for these species, wind-farm effects may occur at a landscape scale. Our findings indicate that the scale and intensity of the displacement effects of wind farms on upland birds depends on bird species’ habitat associations and that the observed effects are mediated by changes in land use associated with wind-farm construction. This highlights the importance of construction effects and siting of turbines2, tracks, and other infrastructure in understanding the impacts of wind farms on biodiversity. El desarrollo de la energía eólica es la más reciente de muchas presiones ejercidas sobre las comunidades de aves de tierras altas y sus hábitats. Los estudios sobre aves en relación con el desarrollo de la energía eólica se han enfocado en los efectos de la mortalidad directa, pero la importancia de los efectos indirectos (p. ej.: desplazamiento, pérdida de hábitat) sobre la diversidad y estabilidad de las comunidades aviares cada vez se reconoce más. Usamos un estudio de control-impacto combinado con un diseño de gradiente para evaluar los efectos de los campos eólicos sobre las densidades de aves de tierras altas y sobre las especies de aves agrupadas por asociación de hábitat (especies de bosque y de hábitat abierto). Realizamos 506 censos de conteo por puntos en 12 sitios de campos eólicos y 12 sitios control en Irlanda durante dos temporadas de reproducción (2012 y 2013). Las densidades de aves totales fueron más bajas en los campos eólicos que en los sitios control, con las diferencias más importantes ocurriendo cerca de las turbinas. Las densidades de las especies de bosque fueron significativamente más bajas a 100 m de las turbinas que a distancias mayores y esta diferencia estuvo mediada por modificaciones asociadas con el desarrollo de campos eólicos. De manera particular, las reducciones en la cobertura de bosque adyacente a las turbinas estuvieron vinculadas con la disminución observada en las densidades de las especies de bosque. Las densidades de las especies de hábitat abierto fueron más bajas en los campos eólicos pero no estuvieron relacionadas con la distancia a las turbinas y tuvieron una relación negativa con el tamaño del campo eólico. Lo anterior sugiere que, para estas especies, los efectos del campo eólico pueden ocurrir a la escala de paisaje. Nuestros hallazgos indican que la escala y la intensidad de los efectos de desplazamiento de los campos eólicos sobre las aves de tierras altas dependen de las asociaciones de hábitat de las especies de aves y que los efectos observados están mediados por cambios en el uso de suelo asociados con la construcción de campos eólicos. Esto remarca la importancia de los efectos de construcción y el sitiado de las turbinas, pistas y demás infraestructura en el entendimiento de los impactos que tienen los campos eólicos sobre la biodiversidad. 风能的开发是山地鸟类群落面临的许多压カ中最近出现的ー种。关于鸟类与风能开发有关的研究主要 集中于其直接导致鸟类死亡的影响，但人们也逐渐认识到其对鸟类群落多样性和稳定性的间接影响_被迫迁 徒、生境丧失) 的重要性。我们用控制-影响研究，结合梯度设计，来评估风电场对山地鸟类密度和按生境相关性 分类的鸟类物种(森林和开放生境的物种) 的影响。我们在 2012 年和 2013 年的两个繁殖季对爰尔兰 12 个风 电场和 12 十対照位点对 506 个样点进行计数调查。结果显示，风电场的鸟类总密度比対照位点イ氏，且差异最大 的位置在涡轮机附近。在涡轮机附近 100 米内森林鸟类的密度显著低于离涡轮机更远的位置，这ー差异受到风 电场建设相关生境改造的调控。特別是与观察到的森林鸟类密度下降与涡轮机附近森林覆盖的减少有关。风电 场开放生境的物种密度也较イ氏但这与距离涡轮机的远近无关，而与风电场的大小呈负相关。这说明风电场对这 些物种的影响可能发生在景观尺度上。我们的結果表明，风电场导致山地鸟类被迫迁徙的影响尺度和強度取决 于物种的生境相关性，观察到的影响是由风电场建设相关的土地利用变化介导的。这强调了涡轮机、孰道和其 它基础设施的施工效应及选址对于理解风电场对生物多祥性影响的重要性。