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The expert team at Ideas Medioambientales is participating in a study to review the status of steppe birds in Western Europe.
The news: the special issue Paleartic grasslands, in the scientific journal Biological Conservation, includes a review of the conservation status of steppe birds in Western Europe: 63 experts (including some colleagues from Ideas Medioambientales) have reviewed the population trends, distribution areas, threats, and functional traits of 37 steppe bird species.
The alert: it is necessary to re-evaluate the conservation status of steppe birds using current data; although a contraction in the distribution area of 67.6% of steppe birds is confirmed, only 18.9% of the species are classified as Endangered or Vulnerable (IUCN Red List in Europe; figure 1).
The species: functional trait analysis reveals a pattern of vulnerability: threatened species are large, sedentary, long-lived, and ground-dwelling for both feeding and nesting.
The threat: changes in land use (intensive agriculture) and unnatural mortality (such as farming practices like tilling and mowing during breeding season, or collisions with power lines) are the primary threats to steppe birds, alongside pollution (pesticides and noise) and climate change (Figure 2). However, the effect of climate change remains uncertain and requires further research.
The outlook: this review article synthesizes current scientific knowledge and serves as a reference to guide scientific research and conservation policy for steppe birds.
Biologists at Ideas Medioambientales participate in scientific research projects focused on biodiversity conservation.
Reference
Julia Gómez-Catasús et al. (2025) Alarming conservation status of Western European steppe birds and their habitats: An expert-based review of current threats, traits and knowledge gaps. Biological Conservation 311: 111414
Link
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320725004513
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