
Why Birds Matter
Avian Ecological Function and Ecosystem Services
University of Chicago Press
Published on 24. August 2016
Book
Hardback
368 pages
978-0-226-38246-3 (ISBN)
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Description
For over one hundred years, ornithologists and amateur birders have jointly campaigned for the conservation of bird species, documenting not only birds' beauty and extraordinary diversity, but also their importance to ecosystems worldwide. But while these avian enthusiasts have noted that birds eat fruit, carrion, and pests; spread seed and fertilizer; and pollinate plants, among other services, they have rarely asked what birds are worth in economic terms. In Why Birds Matter, an international collection of ornithologists, botanists, ecologists, conservation biologists, and environmental economists seeks to quantify avian ecosystem services the myriad benefits that birds provide to humans. The first book to approach ecosystem services from an ornithological perspective, Why Birds Matter asks what economic value we can ascribe to those services, if any, and how this value should inform conservation.
Chapters explore the role of birds in such important ecological dynamics as scavenging, nutrient cycling, food-chains, and plant-animal interactions all seen through the lens of human well-being to show that quantifying avian ecosystem services is crucial when formulating contemporary conservation strategies. Both elucidating challenges and providing examples of specific ecosystem valuations and guidance for calculation, the contributors propose that in order to advance avian conservation, we need to appeal not only to hearts and minds, but also to wallets.
Chapters explore the role of birds in such important ecological dynamics as scavenging, nutrient cycling, food-chains, and plant-animal interactions all seen through the lens of human well-being to show that quantifying avian ecosystem services is crucial when formulating contemporary conservation strategies. Both elucidating challenges and providing examples of specific ecosystem valuations and guidance for calculation, the contributors propose that in order to advance avian conservation, we need to appeal not only to hearts and minds, but also to wallets.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Chicago
United States
Publishing group
The University of Chicago Press
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 23 mm
Width: 16 mm
Thickness: 3 mm
Weight
680 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-226-38246-3 (9780226382463)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Çagan H. Sekercioglu | Daniel G. Wenny | Christopher J. Whelan
Why Birds Matter
Avian Ecological Function and Ecosystem Services
E-Book
05/2024
1st Edition
University of Chicago Press
from
€45.36
Available for download
Persons
Cagan H. Sekercioglu is professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Utah, associate of ornithology at the Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology, and distinguished visiting fellow at KoC University of Istanbul. He is coauthor, most recently, of Conservation of Tropical Birds and Winged Sentinels: Birds and Climate Change. Daniel G. Wenny is landbird senior biologist at the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory and visiting research scholar at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley. Christopher J. Whelan is visiting research associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a research affiliate at the Field Museum, Chicago. He is coeditor of Restoration of Endangered Species: Conceptual Issues, Planning and Implementation.