| Title:
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WHY BIRDS MATTER
AVIAN ECOLOGICAL FUNCTION AND ECOSYSTEM SERVICES |
| By: |
agan H. Sekercioglu (Editor), Daniel G. Wenny (Editor), Christopher J. Whelan (Editor) |
| Format: |
Hardback |
| List price:
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£116.00 |
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| ISBN 10: |
022638246X |
| ISBN 13: |
9780226382463 |
| Publisher: |
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS |
| Pub. date: |
24 August, 2016 |
| Pages: |
368 |
| Description: |
Birders and ornithologists alike have studied birds and argued for their conservation for well over a hundred years, documenting not only their beauty and diversity but also their importance to various ecosystems. These avian enthusiasts have noticed that birds eat fruit and carrion, spread seed and fertilizer, pollinate plants, and help control pests by devouring them for dinner. But rarely have they asked, as this volume does, what are birds worth? That is, how can we quantify avian ecosystem services all those benefits which birds, through their behavior and characteristics, provide to humans? What economic value can we attach to these services, if any, and how should this value inform avian conservation? The first book to focus on ecosystem services from an ornithological perspective, "Why Birds Matter" includes an international group of scholars and researchers who work in the fields of environmental economics, ornithology, botany, ecology, and conservation biology. In covering such important ecological topics as scavenging, nutrient cycling, food chain dynamics, and plant-animal interactions, all within the context of human material well-being, the book ultimately argues that now, more than ever, calculating the value of avian ecosystem services is crucial when formulating and proposing bird conservation strategies. If we want to advance avian conservation, the contributors propose, we need to appeal not only to the public s hearts and minds, but also to their wallets. To this end, the contributors provide examples of specific ecosystem valuations; they also elucidate the challenges of, and provide guidance for, calculating bird ecosystem services in general." |
| Synopsis: |
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. |
| Publication: |
US |
| Imprint: |
University of Chicago Press |
| Returns: |
Returnable |
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