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from the better-go-find-me-some-more-worms dept.
Disappearance of meadows and prairies, expansion of farmlands, use of pesticide blamed for 29 percent drop since 1970.
The number of birds in the United States and Canada has dropped by an astonishing 29 percent, or almost three billion, since 1970, scientists said on Thursday, saying their findings signalled a widespread ecological crisis.
Grassland birds were the most affected, because of the disappearance of meadows and prairies and the extension of farmlands, as well as the growing use of pesticides that kill insects that affects the entire food chain.
"Birds are in crisis," Peter Marra, director of the Georgetown Environment Initiative at Georgetown University and a co-author of the study published in the journal Science, was quoted by Reuters as saying.
Forest birds and species that occur in a wider variety of habitats - known as habitat generalists - are also disappearing.
"We see the same thing happening the world over, the intensification of agriculture and land use changes are placing pressure on these bird populations," Ken Rosenberg, an ornithologist at Cornell University and principal co-author of the paper in Science told AFP news agency.
"Now, we see fields of corn and other crops right up to the horizon, everything is sanitised and mechanised, there's no room left for birds, fauna and nature."
More than 90 percent of the losses are from just 12 species including sparrows, warblers, blackbirds, and finches.
The figures mirror declines seen elsewhere, notably France, where the National Observatory of Biodiversity estimates there was a 30 percent decline in grassland birds between 1989 and 2017.
(Score: 2) by bussdriver on Monday September 23 2019, @04:33PM (1 child)
We can't shame the cat owners about their babies being let outside with claws. Oh you can't declaw them and you can't keep them from going outside... Let other people deal with it but I'm going to do whatever I want and fuck everything else. Repeat by millions and big problems result... and history repeats.
(Score: 2) by Hartree on Tuesday September 24 2019, @06:09PM
Remember we're looking at change from then to now. But, the number of cats hasn't gone up to that extent. In the 70s, there were no neuter and release programs in the rural areas. Every barn still has its bevy of mouse maulers. If anything more cats are kept indoors now than then. So, my guess is that it's a wash.
That said, I talked to some of the outdoorsmen types I work with and they see some of the effects in the studies. Pheasants are down and they say that in the areas outside of town, songbirds are as well. The suspicion is that the open space between fields and along roads has been reduced. I haven't noticed it so much as I'm mostly in the town edge area and these are more full country types. Once they mentioned it, it was obvious to me too. There are less small copses of trees around as well. This gives a lot of birds less space to nest, makes them choose poorer place for it and makes them more vulnerable to predators. Also, bobcats seem to be up in numbers which is another predator pressure that was rare when I was a kid.
In town bird feeding seems to have become more popular as well which may have masked any decrease in the areas I see. (Though I do know that a lot of bird feeders have a hawk watching them It's sort of a buffet line for them.)