Of all living creatures, birds are the group that is most at risk from environmental deterioration caused by human activity. Even the remotest ecosystem is affected in some way, raising the possibility that isolation will afford insufficient protection to any species; migrants are at special risk, because they travel through areas where resting and feeding stopovers have diminished or disappeared. Degraded wetlands, remnants of natural woodlands, the large-scale replacement of coastal vegetation by concrete inevitably will reduce the diversity of ecosystems whose features cannot be replicated by open waters created for leisure, by single-species woodland plantations or by gardens and parks, although these do offer advantages to adaptable bird species. Species that are habitat specialists can all too easily be driven to extinction. Although mankind and birds have co-existed remarkably well in many parts of the world until recently, it can be argued that the relentless pace of extinction of bird species is symptomatic of world-wide ‘simplification’ of plant, insect, mammal, and fish species as a consequence of industrial-scale mass production of food for humankind, whose vulnerability to catastrophe would appear to be increasing because food ‘crops’ are monocultures produced at densities not tolerated in nature and potentially at risk from disease evolution. In the Palearctic, Nearctic and Oriental regions, primary habitats for birds are diminishing at rates that are often severe and increasing. Thousands of insect species are believed to have become extinct before they have been described, putting many hundreds of bird species at risk as one of their primary food sources reduces. However, it is likely that the more subtle effects of removing insect species from complex ecosystems, especially the forced changes to the food chains, few of which have been studied at all, will have severe and unpredictable effects in the longer term. The 5th International Eurasian Ornithology Congress aims to bring together ornithologists and bird lovers in general, to create a platform of knowledge exchange and to discuss the problems and their solutions. This Congress welcomes all humanitarians who care about nature, particularly avifauna. All subjects related to birds will be dealt in Congress sessions; there will be no other restriction on the topic of a presentation. ... [Information of the supplier]
