Population trends for Swedish breeding birds

Richard Ottvall; Lars Edenius; Johan Elmberg; Henri Engström; Martin Green; Niklas Holmqvist; Åke Lindström; Tomas Pärt; Martin Tjernberg

doi:10.34080/os.v19.22652

Authors

Richard Ottvall Department of Biology, Lund University
Lars Edenius Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Johan Elmberg Aquatic biology and chemistry, Kristianstad University https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2337-4155
Henri Engström Department of Ecology and Evolution, Uppsala University & Swedish Ornithological Society
Martin Green Department of Biology, Lund University
Niklas Holmqvist Swedish Association for Hunting and Wildlife Management
Åke Lindström Department of Biology, Lund University https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5597-6209
Tomas Pärt Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7388-6672
Martin Tjernberg Species Information Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.34080/os.v19.22652

Keywords:

population studies, climate effects, habitat selection

Abstract

We have assessed the population trends for the 255 bird species breeding in Sweden (including distinct subspecies), based on data for the last 30 and 10 years, respectively. Over the past 30 years more species have decreased (38%) than increased (32%) in numbers. In particular, formerly common farmland species have fared poorly but this is also true for some forest species. Over the past 10 years there are more species with increasing trends (29%) than there are species with decreasing trends (19%). Trends for several species in long-term decline have levelled off and have in some cases even started to increase. It is not known whether this recent change is a result of conservation efforts or simply that population numbers have stabilised at lower levels now permitted by the environment. It is therefore essential to initiate research devoted to finding factors directly linked to ongoing population changes, particularly for species in long-term decline. To cover population trends for all Swedish species additional monitoring programmes are needed, in particular on owls and in mountain habitats.