Cover of Why Birds Matter
Why Birds Matter Avian Ecological Function and Ecosystem Services
edited by Çagan H. Sekercioglu, Daniel G. Wenny and Christopher J. Whelan
University of Chicago Press, 2016
Cloth: 978-0-226-38246-3 | Paper: 978-0-226-38263-0 | Electronic: 978-0-226-38277-7
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226382777.001.0001

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ABOUT THIS BOOKAUTHOR BIOGRAPHYREVIEWSTABLE OF CONTENTS

ABOUT THIS BOOK

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.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Çağan H. Şekercioğlu 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 Koç 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.

REVIEWS

“Such an interesting volume. Authoritative and well-researched, Why Birds Matter will appeal to both ornithologists and conservation biologists—I can see myself referring to it frequently in the future. Authors of each chapter are well chosen world leaders on their topics, and the material is well written and cohesive. It will be an exceedingly useful book to those of us who work on bird conservation and want a one-stop summary of what we know about the contributions of birds to ecosystem services.”
— Chris S. Elphick, University of Connecticut

“The endeavor is fascinating because birds of almost all kinds have far more impacts on human life than most humans realize.”
— Steve Donoghue, Open Letters Monthly

“For those with an interest in avian/human ecology.”
— Ian Paulsen, Birdbooker Report

“An impressive collection of papers that explains how birds fit into our world. It examines birds’ roles in pollination, seed dispersal, nutrient cycling, how birds engineer their habitats, and their economic value. As the subtitle suggests, this book is geared to academic and professional readers, but any serious student of birds will appreciate Why Birds Matter.”
— Scott Shalaway, Farm and Dairy

"Highly recommended for different types of ornithological audiences, from the amateur involved in conservation objectives to the researcher concentrated on the study of functional diversity, passing through to the scientific communicator."
— Ardeola

"Why Birds Matter makes a valuable contribution to the literature and brings together disparate empirical studies examining the ecological functions and ecosystem services provided by birds. Moreover, by highlighting those areas where further research is likely to prove fruitful, the book is likely to prompt other researchers to initiate studies examining other ecosystem services. Some excellent editing has ensured that the chapters are all relatively consistent in terms of style and language used. . . . I would thoroughly recommend it for college, university, and museum libraries and also in the personal libraries of those interested in ecosystem services. I congratulate the editors and contributors for producing such an informative volume."
— Mark C. Mainwaring, Lancaster University, Condor

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword by Jeffrey A. Gordon

Preface


DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226382777.003.0001
[avian ecosystem function;economic ornithology;ecosystem services;cultural services;provisioning services;regulating services;supporting services]
Ecosystem services are those aspects of the earth that benefit humans. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment of the United Nations identified four classes of ecosystem services: provisioning services such as food, water, timber, and fiber; regulating services that affect climate, floods, disease, wastes, and water quality; cultural services that provide recreational, aesthetic, and spiritual benefits; and supporting services such as soil formation, photosynthesis, and nutrient cycling. Interest in both the positive and negative roles of birds spurred development of Economic Ornithology, which investigated the food, habits, and migrations of birds in relation to both insects and plants. Although the discipline was initially greeted enthusiastically, criticism of methods and skepticism regarding conclusions grew in the early 20th century. Keeping in mind the eventual demise of Economic Ornithology in the early 20th century, efforts to revitalize the field today must be rigorous, repeatable, with a focus on tangible measures of plant yield in managed systems and plant fitness in natural systems. Cost-benefit analysis may permit evaluation of bird contributions to ecosystem service and disservice with respect to alternative mechanisms that are available (e.g., bird predation versus pesticides for pest control). Efforts that permit scaling up from experimental plots to entire ecosystems are critical. (pages 1 - 26)
This chapter is available at:
    University of Chicago Press
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DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226382777.003.0002
[ecosystem services;commodification;ethics;values;monetization;valuation]
Birds are valuable intrinsically and instrumentally. Their instrumental values include use values, such as for hunting purposes, and non-use-values, such as for recreation, aesthetic value, and for delivering ecosystem services that help sustain and fulfill human life. If ornithologists, conservations, and economists can help individuals and institutions recognize the value of birds, this will increase investments in bird conservation while fostering human well-being. A surge in interest in environmental and ecological economics has thrust ecosystem services to the forefront of conservation science and policy, and ornithologists must engage in this work to advance bird conservation effectively. Documenting the values and services of birds is necessary for deliberative decision-making processes that collectively weigh economic, cultural, and intrinsic values. Here, we describe methods to quantify the economic value of biodiversity drawn from the field of environmental economics, and we briefly review several examples involving birds. Policies for markets and/or payments for bird services are still in their infancy, but we review how policies of other public ecosystem services have progressed and we discuss their relevance to bird conservation. Lastly, we identify directions for future ecological and economic research that may lead to advances in bird conservation policy. (pages 27 - 48)
This chapter is available at:
    University of Chicago Press
    https://academic.oup.com/chica...


DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226382777.003.0003
[agroecosystems;bottom-up interactions;foundation species;pest control;top-down interaction;trophic cascade;trophic interaction networks]
Birds function within their ecosystems in ways that include many direct and indirect chains of trophic interaction. In some interaction chains, birds exert top-down effects in “trophic cascades.” These occur when a predatory species directly reduces its prey abundance and consequently indirectly releases suppression of species at lower trophic levels. Many bird species initiate trophic cascades in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and in natural and agro-ecosystems. Services provided by birds through trophic cascades benefit humans primarily through pest control in natural forests, forestry plantations, fruit orchards, and a variety of crop-based agro-ecosystems. Cascade strength may be affected by predator prey specificity, redundancy, species diversity, and productivity. Some birds influence ecosystem function both through either bottom up interactions or through intermediate trophic positions within interaction networks. These effects can also reverberate through trophic webs. Global change, including anthropogenic perturbation, may lead to a loss of ecosystem services, including seed dispersal and pollination services by birds. These losses may cause declines keystone or foundation plant species, resulting in losses in biodiversity and ecosystem integrity. We conclude with suggestions for future research needs on bird ecosystem services, particularly in light of global change. (pages 49 - 72)
This chapter is available at:
    University of Chicago Press
    https://academic.oup.com/chica...


DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226382777.003.0004
[avian pollination;gene flow;inbreeding depression;pollen limitation;pollination;seed limitation]
Avian pollination is thought to be less prevalent and less at risk than avian seed-dispersal. The extent of recently revealed bird pollination that does not conform to the classic ornithophily-nectarivore template suggests this mutualism may be cryptic and more prevalent than considered to date. Widespread anthropogenic disturbance has disproportionately impacted the connections between birds and flowers, so that bird pollination may be systematically under-reported. Evidence suggests that where plants are visited by more than one pollinator guild, the relative effectiveness of birds is high compared to invertebrates. In the absence of replacement, the loss of bird pollinators has resulted in pollination failure, increased inbreeding depression, and decreased plant density. Confirmation of seed limitation in pollen-limited plants serviced by birds provides a precautionary sign of the possible long term effects of bird pollinator loss. The quality of pollination service provided by birds has important consequences for gene flow and offspring survival. Pollen limitation experiments suggest that bird-pollinated plants in New Zealand, the Americas, Southeast Asia, and Africa suffer similar levels of pollen limitation, and are typically more strongly pollen-limited than insect-pollinated plants. Thus, bird-pollination appears to be under-reported, hard to replace and at greater risk of failure than currently assumed. (pages 73 - 106)
This chapter is available at:
    University of Chicago Press
    https://academic.oup.com/chica...


DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226382777.003.0005
[frugivores;seed dispersal;ecosystem services]
Seed dispersal by frugivorous birds is a globally important ecosystem service. Nearly 4000 bird species have been observed eating fruit and collectively these species likely disperse seeds of at least 68,000 plants. The types of fruits eaten by birds are structurally diverse but fall into three functional groups, multi-seeded berries, few-seeded drupes, and single-seeded arils in dehiscent structures. Birds disperse primarily tree and shrub seeds, but also disperse the seeds of lianas, herbaceous plants, epiphytes, and hemiparasites. Through seed dispersal, birds are important drivers of plant community dynamics and therefore are essential in supporting many of the ecosystem services that those habitats and their constituent species provide. While much research on seed dispersal by birds has focused on the more frugivorous species, most of the bird species that eat fruit do so seasonally or only occasionally and the seed dispersal roles of most of these species are not well understood. Through their sheer numbers, opportunistic, generalist and/or occasional frugivores may be ecologically important in some ecosystems, but their influence has been little studied. Current trends in habitat loss and other human impacts, especially in the tropics, are threatening larger species of frugivores and the large-seeded plants only these birds disperse. (pages 107 - 146)
This chapter is available at:
    University of Chicago Press
    https://academic.oup.com/chica...


DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226382777.003.0006
[diaspore;endozoochory;epizoochory;external transport;gut passage;internal transport;passive seed dispersal;seed traits;shorebirds;waterfowl]
Ducks, shorebirds, rails, gulls and other waterbirds act as vectors of seeds, spores and other plant diaspores carried internally in their guts, externally on their feathers, feet or bills, or used as nesting material. Darwin was the first to understand the significance of dispersal by migratory waterbirds in plant evolution, biogeography and ecology. Countless aquatic and terrestrial plants are dependent on dispersal by waterbirds for long-distance dispersal, and this has probably been the case since the Cretaceous. However, plant ecologists and waterfowl biologists alike have been slow to recognize the importance of this dispersal mode as an ecosystem service. Seed dispersal by waterbirds plays a vital role in plant population dynamics, population genetics and changes in species distributions in response to habitat change and climate warming. On the other hand, waterbirds also spread alien species, and their role as vectors should be taken into account when considering how to prevent and manage biological invasions. (pages 147 - 195)
This chapter is available at:
    University of Chicago Press
    https://academic.oup.com/chica...


DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226382777.003.0007
[corvidae;coevolution;human commensal;regeneration;scatter hoarding;seed storage]
Birds of the family Corvidae, which comprise the familiar jays, magpies, crows, ravens, and their allies, occur nearly worldwide. They include species that are common human commensals in urban and rural landscapes, as well as species that occupy more remote wildlands. Many corvids store excess food for later use, preventing access by conspecifics or other competitors and concealing it in hiding places such as crevices and under objects, but also by burying food under soil, litter, or other substrate. For seed-eaters, which are predominantly granivorous corvids, seeds are moved away from parent trees, and prolonged storage may frequently lead to seed germination and plant regeneration. These granivorous corvids are often scatter-hoarders, placing one or more seeds in many different locations. Several corvid species are dependable seed dispersers for various woody plant taxa, and particularly pines, oaks, beeches and chestnuts, resulting in coevolution and coadaptation. Seed-storing corvid species help shape forest composition and distribution across landscapes, facilitate response to changing climate, and regenerate communities after disturbance. Examples illustrate economic valuation of corvid seed dispersal services and demonstrate how declining seed dispersal services of an obligate corvid mutualist for a widespread forest tree already have apparent consequences. (pages 196 - 234)
This chapter is available at:
    University of Chicago Press
    https://academic.oup.com/chica...


DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226382777.003.0008
[carrion;diclofenic;facultative scavenging;obligate scavenging;vultures]
Carrion is a unique food resource compared to live prey, and animal species are adapted to using carrion to varying degrees. Across all climates, ecosystems, and habitats, most carcasses are used at least in part by vertebrates—relatively few are completely decomposed by insects and microbes. Birds are particularly well adapted to scavenging, especially the Old- and New-World vultures, the only known obligate vertebrate scavengers. Numerous studies, many conducted over the past decade, have demonstrated the importance of scavengers in maintaining ecosystem stability, providing public health benefits to humans, and many other important industry and cultural services. Avian scavengers face many challenges in the modern world, such as poisoning, climate change, habitat destruction, and man-made obstructions such as power lines and wind farms. As a response, scientists, conservation groups, governments, and other advocates for healthy scavenger populations have made strides recently in conserving these animals. However, much work is still needed to globally preserve the important services provided by avian scavengers for future generations. (pages 235 - 270)
This chapter is available at:
    University of Chicago Press
    https://academic.oup.com/chica...


DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226382777.003.0009
[seabirds;nutrient dynamics;nutrient cycle;ecosystem services;nutrient transport;phosphorus;nitrogen;ecosystem;human-dominated ecosystem]
In this chapter, we explore birds as drivers of nutrient dynamics across ecosystems. For example, seabirds transport nutrients from pelagic regions to land areas. We explain why nutrient transport by birds is important and how the characteristics of birds are especially effective for nutrient transport. In the case of seabirds, birds link distant ecosystems by transporting nutrients that otherwise would remain in a certain place, in ways that few other animals can. We present case studies that show the direct and indirect ecological effects of avian nutrient transport, anddescribe provisioning services provided by those ecological interactions. Globally, seabirds transfer an estimated 10,000 to 100,000 tons of phosphorus from sea to land annually, making up an extremely important supporting ecosystem service, due to humans' excessive use of phosphorus. Lastly, we discuss some negative effects of bird nutrient transport on people and environments, e.g. excessive nitrogen and phosphorus can pose threats to certain habitats, underlining the importance of assessing the costs and benefits of bird-mediated nutrient dynamics in human-dominated ecosystems. We must consider the diversity of ways in which humans value habitats and ecosystem services of birds, in order to find ways to balance the various ecological functions of birds. (pages 271 - 297)
This chapter is available at:
    University of Chicago Press
    https://academic.oup.com/chica...


DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226382777.003.0010
[beetle regulation;biodiversity;deadwood;ecosystem services;engineers;heartwood fungus;keystone species;saproxylic;secondary cavity nesters;woodpeckers]
Woodpeckers are prominent examples of ecosystem engineers because they excavate cavities in woody plant tissue, transforming habitat in ways that create shelter for other cavity-dwelling organisms. While the potential keystone role of woodpeckers in cavity-nesting bird communities is well documented, less is known about the importance of their feeding activity. Many woodpecker species drill holes in wood and consume numerous saproxylic insects; and some create sap wells that provide a rich food source for other sap-feeding organisms. Through their cavity-excavating and feeding activity, woodpeckers likely contribute significantly to decomposition cycles, food webs, and biodiversity in forest ecosystems. As with most birds, however, the ecological impacts of woodpeckers have rarely been quantified in terms of the ecosystem services they provide. We discuss the ecosystem services provided by woodpeckers and point out knowledge gaps and research needs that must be addressed before full valuation of these services can be carried out. (pages 298 - 320)
This chapter is available at:
    University of Chicago Press
    https://academic.oup.com/chica...


DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226382777.003.0011
[agricultural areas;agroforests;ecosystem services;frugivores;granivores;insectivores;nectarivores;omnivores;primary forests;species richness]
Although most bird species avoid agricultural areas, nearly a third of all birds regularly to occasionally use such habitats, often providing important ecosystem services like pest control, pollination, and seed dispersal. Combining literature review with large-scale analyses of the ecological characteristics of the world’s birds, I compared tropical bird species that prefer forests, agricultural areas or both, with respect to body mass, diet, range and population size, frequency, conservation status, habitat and resource specialization. Compared to primary forests, species richness of large frugivorous and insectivorous birds (especially terrestrial and understorey species) often decline in agroforests. In contrast, nectarivores, small-to medium insectivores (especially migrants and canopy species), omnivores, and sometimes granivores and small frugivores do better, frequently by tracking seasonal resources. However, changes in guild species numbers do not necessarily translate to changes in relative abundance, biomass or function, and more studies are needed to quantify these important measures. These findings indicate that the replacement of forests and agroforests with simplified agricultural systems can result in shifts towards less specialized bird communities with altered proportions of functional groups. These shifts can reduce avian ecosystem function and affect the ecosystem services provided by birds in agroforests and other agricultural landscapes. (pages 321 - 340)
This chapter is available at:
    University of Chicago Press
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DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226382777.003.0012
[conservation;direct ecosystem services;excise tax;indirect ecosystem services;Pittman-Robertson act]
Birds are important components of the world’s many ecosystems, and they contribute cultural, provisioning, supporting, and regulating ecosystem services. The lives of birds and humans have been intertwined for many thousands of years. Birds inspire, entertain, feed, and clothe humans. Throughout the evolution of modern humans and the cultural development of our societies, birds clearly matter. Cultural and provisioning services accrue directly – these services are themselves products. Bird art and bird eggs, for instance, are commodities --they may be bought and sold (or bartered). Regulating and supporting services, in contrast, accrue indirectly – not themselves commodities, they instead they help maintain other components of the world’s ecosystems upon which humans depend for both goods (food, shelter) and services (disease management; pest control). These indirect services facilitate other ecosystem services, and therefore promote biodiversity. To maintain the many ecosystem services provided by birds, we need to conserve them. The financial costs of conservation appear great, perhaps even insurmountable. Nonetheless, the capital to fund conservation exists. It is up to those of us who value birds, and the rest of nature, to urge governments and citizens of the world to find the will. (pages 341 - 364)
This chapter is available at:
    University of Chicago Press
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