The number of birds that migrate is decreasing, what is the reason? page all

KOMPAS.com – Bird migrating is decreasing globally due to the influence of human activities.

New research from University of East Anglia shows that there is a decrease migration population bird to areas with more human infrastructure.

In addition, reduced migration was seen in areas with higher human population densities and higher levels of hunting.

Not only that, habitat degradation and climate change also played a role in encouraging long-term reductions in migration.

Also read: The Most Endangered Bird Species in Indonesia in the World

The team hopes the results of this study can help inform how best to target conservation efforts.

“We know that migratory birds experienced greater declines than non-migratory species, but it’s not clear why,” said James Gilroy, a researcher from the University of East Anglia.

And it turns out that these migratory species are most often affected by humans.

As quoted from Science DailyWednesday (29/6/2022) the research team identified at least 16 human-caused threats to migratory birds.

This includes infrastructure related to bird disturbances and collisions, land conversion from natural habitats to human lands, and climate change.

Advances in satellite imagery allowed the team to map each of the 16 threats across Europe, Africa and West Asia. The team also created the first large-scale hunting pressure map across the region.

A total of 103 migratory bird species were studied using large -scale data sets, including many rapidly declining species such as turtles and cuckoos.

The team calculated ‘threat scores’ for factors such as habitat loss and climate change, across breeding sites, as well as non-breeding ranges.

Also read: Why Do Pelicans Migrate?

They then explored the relationship between these threat scores and bird population trends calculated from 1985 to 2018 by Pan-European Common Bird Monitoring Scheme (PECBMS).

“We found that human modification of the landscape in the range of bird distributions in Europe, Africa and West Asia was associated with a decrease in the numbers of more than 100 Afro-Eurasia migratory birds,” said laire Buchan, another researcher involved.

Landscape modification refers to things like roads, buildings, power lines, wind turbines and anything unnatural.

One of the biggest impacts will be killing birds directly, for example flying into wind turbines, buildings, electrocuted, hit by vehicles or being hunted.

“Our findings are important because we need to understand where the declining species are most affected by humans in their seasonal migrations,” said study researcher Aldina Franco.

“Determining precisely where birds are most frequently exposed to this threat can help us target conservation actions.”

Also read: Migratory Birds Have Paleer Feathers, Why Is That?

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