Nicolás López-Jiménez

A study led by the University of Montpellier (France) and with the participation of CREAF has analysed the causes of the decline in bird populations in Europe. To do so, they have compiled data on 170 bird species in 28 countries, including Spain, over 37 years. The overall decline is 25 %, and the decline in populations in agricultural areas is around 60 %. The main cause in both cases, according to the research, is intensive agriculture, although climate change is also an important factor. The results are published in the journal PNAS.

Climate change is causing a mass extinction of species, but for birds, this loss of biodiversity has wider implications. In research published in the journal Current Biology, researchers use statistical models to predict that this extinction will decrease morphological diversity among the remaining birds at a faster rate than species loss alone.