Effects of Climate Change on Birds

This volume published by OUP is by the same editorial team of an earlier book on Birds and Climate Change published by Elsevier in 2004. There has been much new material published on the subject in the intervening six years, which is reflected by a much extended contents list; this new volume covers a much greater span of topics and contains many current and well written chapters by an impressive array of authors. The book starts with a useful summary of the latest thinking on the causes and consequences of climate change, which underpins the remainder of the volume. A number of methodological chapters then follow, describing different techniques that have been used to examine the consequences of climate change for birds, after which is the meat of the book; a series of chapters reviewing the latest evidence for climate change effects on birds. These range from reviews of changes in the timing of migration and nesting to impacts of climate change on bird populations and species’ distributions. More unusual chapters on the effects of climate change on sexual selection and host-parasite interactions are also included. The editors then conclude with a sobering assessment of the scientific work that still remains to be done in order to inform policy. This is an academic book, largely aimed at scientists, and it certainly provides an impressive wealth of chapters summarising the latest scientific understanding on the topic pretty well. The book is very European in focus. Whilst this reflects the fact that much of the research has been conducted in northern, temperate zones, I do wonder if more could have been done to expand this a bit. However, this is a pretty minor quibble, and I will certainly be ordering my own copy.

Book reviewed by James Pearce-Higgins