Biodiversity

摘要

UK populations of wild woodland and farmland birds declined sharply in 2009, to a new record low of 34% below their 1970 level. As the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs stresses, while year-on-year changes in bird populations can be driven by one-off factors, the ten-year trend clearly points to something more sustained. For woodland birds, the decline is likely to be due to changing forest management. Rising deer numbers could also be a factor, as deer browse on the forest understory on which woodland birds depend.