Birds As Monitors Of Environmental Change

R.W. Furness J.J.D. Greenwood Editors Birds as Monitors of Environmental Change Birds as Monitors of Environm.ental Change Birds as Monitors of Environmental Change Edited by R.W. Furness Department of Zoology Glasgow University Glasgow, UK and J.J.D. Greenwood British Trust for Ornithology Thetford Norfolk, UK SPRINGER-SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B.V. First edition 1993 © 1993 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht Originally published by Chapman & Hall in 1993 Typeset in 10/12 Palatino by Mews Photosetting, Beckenham, Kent ISBN 978-94-015-1324-1 ISBN 978-94-015-1322-7 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-94-015-1322-7 Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the UK Copyright Designs and Patents Act, 1988, this publication may not be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction only in accordance with the terms of the licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency in the UK, or in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the appropriate Reproduction Rights Organization outside the UK. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the terms stated here should be sent to the publishers at the London address printed on this page. The publisher makes no representation, express or implied, with regard to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and cannot accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions that may be made. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data § Printedon permanent acid-free text paper, manufactured in accordance with the proposed ANSI/NISO Z 39.48-199X and ANSI Z 39.48-1984 Contents List of contributors 1 2 3 Can birds be used to monitor the environment? R. W. Furness, J.J.D . Greenwood and P.J. Jarvis 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Monitaring environmental change 1.3 Advantages and disadvantages of birds as monitors 1.4 Subjects considered in detail in this book 1.5 Other uses of birds as monitors References Environmental changes P.J. Jarvis 2.1 Introduction 2.2 The nature and scale of environmental changes 2.3 Climatic changes 2.4 Changes in economic activities 2.5 Habitat alteration and fragmentation 2.6 Introduced species 2. 7 Pollution 2.8 Conclusions References Birds as monitors of pollutants R. W. Furness 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Pesticides 3.3 PCBs 3.4 Heavy metals ix 1 1 5 27 29 29 35 42 42 43 46 54 63 68 70 76 77 86 86 89 100 102 Contents VI 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 3.10 3.11 4 5 6 Plastic Nutrients Radionuclides Acidification Oil Air pollution National pollution monitaring schemes using birds References Birds as monitors of radionuclide contamination I. Lehr Brisbin, Jr 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Characteristics of environmentally important radioactive contaminants 4.3 Evaluating birds as monitors of radionuclide contamination 4.4 Selecting a monitor to describe environmental radionuclide contamination 4.5 Conclusions - can birds be used as effective monitors of environmental contamination with radionuclides? Acknowledgements References Birds as indicators of changes in water quality S.f. Ormerod and S.f. Tyler 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Pollution and other sources of change in lakes an