Ecosystem consequences of bird declines
- 15 December 2004
- journal article
- Published by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
- Vol. 101 (52), 18042-18047
- https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0408049101
Abstract
We present a general framework for characterizing the ecological and societal consequences of biodiversity loss and applying it to the global avifauna. To investigate the potential ecological consequences of avian declines, we developed comprehensive databases of the status and functional roles of birds and a stochastic model for forecasting change. Overall, 21% of bird species are currently extinction-prone and 6.5% are functionally extinct, contributing negligibly to ecosystem processes. We show that a quarter or more of frugivorous and omnivorous species and one-third or more of herbivorous, piscivorous, and scavenger species are extinction-prone. Furthermore, our projections indicate that by 2100, 6-14% of all bird species will be extinct, and 7-25% (28-56% on oceanic islands) will be functionally extinct. Important ecosystem processes, particularly decomposition, pollination, and seed dispersal, will likely decline as a result.Keywords
This publication has 25 references indexed in Scilit:
- Comparative Losses of British Butterflies, Birds, and Plants and the Global Extinction CrisisScience, 2004
- Diclofenac residues as the cause of vulture population decline in PakistanNature, 2004
- Population diversity and ecosystem servicesTrends in Ecology & Evolution, 2003
- Habitat conversion and global avian biodiversity lossProceedings. Biological sciences, 2003
- Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning: Current Knowledge and Future ChallengesScience, 2001
- Historical Overfishing and the Recent Collapse of Coastal EcosystemsScience, 2001
- Consequences of changing biodiversityNature, 2000
- Global Biodiversity Scenarios for the Year 2100Science, 2000
- Population Diversity: Its Extent and ExtinctionScience, 1997
- Biodiversity and Ecological RedundancyConservation Biology, 1992