Ecosystem

Biodiversity

Sociology

Wildlife conservation

Demography

Composite material

Habitat

Ecology

Materials science

Range (aeronautics)

Geography

Threatened species

Population decline

Bird conservation

Population

Wildlife

Near-threatened species

Conservation biology

Habitat destruction

Biology

Science

Staggering decline of bird populations Because birds are conspicuous and easy to identify and count, reliable records of their occurrence have been gathered over many decades in many parts of the world. Drawing on such data for North America, Rosenberg et al. report wide-spread population declines of birds over the past half-century, resulting in the cumulative loss of billions of breeding individuals across a wide range of species and habitats. They show that declines are not restricted to rare and threatened species—those once considered common and wide-spread are also diminished. These results have major implications for ecosystem integrity, the conservation of wildlife more broadly, and policies associated with the protection of birds and native ecosystems on which they depend. Science , this issue p. 120

Decline of the North American avifauna