Birds and Habitat: Relationships in Changing Landscapes

by Edited by Robert J. Fuller

• ISBN13: 9780521897563
• ISBN10: 0521897564
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-12-10
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

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.

Table of Contents

List of contributors

Preface

The Complexity of Patterns and Processes

The bird and its habitat: an overview of concepts

Habitat quality and habitat occupancy by birds in variable environments

Spatial variation and temporal shifts in habitat use by birds at the European scale

Mechanisms and processes underlying landscape structure effects on bird populations

Avian responses to transitional habitats in temperate cultural landscapes: woodland edges and young growth

Habitat associations of birds in complex changing cultural landscapes

The importance of habitat heterogeneity at multiple scales for birds in European agricultural landscapes

Case Studies of Habitat Use and Selection

Spatial variation and habitat relationships in moorland bird assemblages: a British perspective

Arctic-alpine mountain birds in northern Europe: contrasts between specialists and generalists

Bird-habitat relationships in reedswamps and fens

Breeding waders on wet grassland: factors influencing habitat suitability

Processes influencing bird use of estuarine mudflats and saltmarshes in western Europe

Avian habitat use on the non-estuarine intertidal coast

Temperate western European woodland as a dynamic environment for birds: a resource-based view

Wider Perspectives

What is habitat quality? Dissecting a research portfolio on shorebirds

Understanding individual life histories and habitat choices: implications for explaining population patterns and processes Beat

Insufficient adaptation to climate change alters avian habitat quality and thereby changes habitat selection

Australian birds in a changing landscape: 220 years of European colonisation

Birds in cultural landscapes: actual and perceived differences between north-east North America and western Europe

Birds and their changing habitat: thoughts on research and conservation strategies

Index

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.