Birds as Biodiversity Indicators for Europe

It is a truism that biodiversity is vital. It is, after all, a measure of life on earth. It is of more pressing concern that biodiversity is being lost at a rate unprecedented in the recent era, and will continue to be lost unless action is taken. There is species loss and habitat loss across ecosystems from the Arctic icecap to tropical rainforest: the so-called Fifth Great Extinction of species really does seem to be happening. Richard Gregory looks at the role birds can play in measuring biodiversity.