Dairy declines hard to swallow
Peter D. Moore1
Nature volume 411, pages 904–905 (2001)Cite this article
Birds are important constituents of any ecosystem. But they are also valuable monitors of environmental conditions — if their populations begin to decline, we need to know why.
Most investigations into population changes in farmland birds are based on correlations, usually relating observed changes in bird density to factors such as the intensity of farming. Correlations are then explained by reference to other factors, such as the availability of insects or seeds as food, resulting in the development of models in which cause and effect can be unravelled. But such reasoning from correlation can all too easily lead the unwary into error.
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Figure 1: In decline — the barn swallow, Hirundo rustica.
MIKE WILKES/BBC NATURAL HISTORY UNIT
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Division of Life Sciences, King's College, Franklin–Wilkins Building, 150 Stamford Street, London, SE1 9NN, UK
Peter D. Moore
Correspondence to Peter D. Moore.
Moore, P. Dairy declines hard to swallow. Nature 411, 904–905 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35082185
Issue Date: 21 June 2001
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/35082185