Abstract
More research on the effects of climate change has been dedicated to birds than to any other group of animals. It may, then, be surprising how few synthetic works exist that compile what we know so far. To be sure, excellent books are available on the subject— prominent examples include Birds and Climate Change: Impacts and Conservation Responses (Pearce-Higgins and Green 2014), Winged Sentinels: Birds and Climate Change (Wormworth and Sekercioglu 2011), and several works on specialized topics. The aforementioned books are syntheses by individual ornithologists; to my knowledge, the first edited volume to bring a large group of experts together was Birds and Climate Change (Møller et al. 2004), followed by Effects of Climate Change on Birds (Møller et al. 2010). Now, the latter volume has been updated in an outstanding second edition under the same title, with a partial change in editors (Dunn and Møller). In the introductory pages, the editors state, “This new edition attempts to synthesize what is known about the effects of climate change on birds, as well as point out new methods and areas for future research.” This is no easy task, given the sheer volume of research. The editors calculate that there are now more than 11,400 papers on birds and climate change, with more than 7500 published after their volume’s first edition. To their credit, they have met this challenge with remarkable efficiency —this is a relatively small and digestible book.
Citation
Pomara, Lars Y. 2019. Recent Literature Book Review Effects of Climate Change on BirdsPeter O.Dunn and Anders PapeMøller(eds.), 2nd ed. 2019. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Journal of Field Ornithology. 90(4): 392-394 pp. https://doi.org/10.1111/jofo.12318.
