Thursday, March 6, 2014, 7:00 p.m.
UBC Earth Sciences Building, Ross Beaty Lecture Theatre (2207 Main Mall, Vancouver; across from Beaty Biodiversity Museum)
with Dick Cannings
FREE! Click here to RSVP.
Bird population trends are one of the best indicators of ecosystem health. They are relatively easy to monitor, and an army of talented and enthusiastic birders is available to gather data on a continental scale. Bird species diversity and varied habitat preferences allow biologists to find patterns in bird population trends that can inform polices on ecosystem management. In 2012, bird biologists brought together data from a wide range of surveys from across Canada to assess the status of the country’s birds, the first time this had ever been done for any major group of animals.
Dick Cannings is a biologist and author living in Penticton, BC. He formerly curated the Cowan Vertebrate Museum in the Department of Zoology at UBC, and has written a dozen books on natural history subjects, including the award-winning British Columbia: a Natural History and An Enchantment of Birds. Much of his work involves the coordination of continent-wide bird population monitoring programs and the conservation of species at risk in Canada.
This presentation is part of the Biodiversity Lecture Series.