Introduction

The global environmental change is one of the greatest threats of our time. The destruction and degration of natural habitats, in combination with other human-induced changes in the environment, are together causing large changes in population sizes of different species. Cooperation and good will between scientists, politicians and the public is required in order to solve the environmental problems facing us today and in the future.



Birds are large, easily identifiable and charismatic animals; it is therefore no surprise that they are one of the best studied taxa in the nature. A long tradition of research on birds has subsequently provided many detailed long-term data on population fluctuations and dynamics that can hardly be paralleled in other taxa. Many major changes in bird populations, even extinctions, have been detected during the last century. A number of these changes have been linked to the human induced environmental changes or other human activities (e.g. hunting). These studies have often provided the first signals of environmental changes affecting ecosystems as a whole.

Birds are useful indicators for example because they live live in relatively large areas and often need diverse natural elements in their home range. Changes in bird populations can tell us a lot about landscape-scale changes in our environment. Birds are also highly mobile and therefore respond quickly to many ongoing global changes. Thanks to regular surveys, the changes in bird population sizes and range shifts are well detected. Recently especially climate change and its effects on breeding and migrating birds have been intensively studied, but also other environmental changes can be detected with the help of birds.



The symposium was organized by Maj and Tor Nessling Foundation in cooperation wih BirdLife Finland. This was the sixth environmental symposium by Nessling Foundation. BirdLife Finland has inherited the tradition of arranging scientific symposia from the late Finnish Ornitholocigal Society (Suomen Lintutieteellinen Yhdistys). Especially the third day of this symposium carried on the legacy from the Finnish Ornithological Society as it is devoted to bird research of any kind.

The objective of this symposium was to provide a forum for multi- and interdisciplinary discussions on birds and the global environmental change. The symposium highlighted the current simultaneous changes in the environment. The usability of birds in observing, forecasting and interpreting the changes was a central question. Also visions for the future were discussed and provided. The topics were addressed in separate sessions, featuring leading Finnish and international scientists and experts. The poster session of the Symposium was open to anyone interested in presenting research related to the topics.