Warren co-edits 'Urban Bird Ecology and Conservation'

Paige Warren, associate professor of Environmental Conservation, is the co-editor of a recently published book from the University of California Press, “Urban Bird Ecology and Conservation.” Her co-editor is ecologist Christopher Lepczyk of the University of Hawaii at Manoa. The book collects views of leading researchers on cities, one of our most “under-studied environments,” Warren notes.

 

One reviewer says the 344-page volume summarizes the state of the science, “highlighting the strength and breadth of the growing body of urban bird research around the world. More importantly, it documents how the field of urban bird ecology is moving beyond the study of pattern to address the ecological and evolutionary processes that impact birds in complex urban mosaics.”

 

Warren says the 18 chapters and two online special topic chapters by a total of 55 authors went through extensive peer review and cover new ground, particularly with respect to bird-human interactions.

 

As publicity for the new book explains, “Now that more than half of the world’s population lives in cities, the study of birds in urban ecosystems has emerged at the forefront of ornithological research. An international team of leading researchers in urban bird ecology and conservation from across Europe and North America presents the state of this diverse field, addressing classic questions while proposing new directions for further study. Areas of particular focus include the processes underlying patterns of species shifts along urban-rural gradients, the demography of urban birds and the role of citizen science, and human-avian interaction in urban areas. This important reference fills a crucial need for scientists, planners, and managers of urban spaces and all those interested in the study and conservation of birds in the world’s expanding metropolises.”

 

Warren is on currently on sabbatical as a visiting scholar at the Global Institute of Sustainability at Arizona State University in Tucson until June.