Objective Problems to be solvedBy signing the Convention on Biodiversity in 1992, the European Union and its Member States affirmed that conservation of biological diversity is a common concern of mankind. The main contribution of the European Union to fulfil the Convention's requirements has been "the Birds Directive" and "the Habitats Directive". A practical problem that has often arisen when trying to implement these directives into practical policies, in particular at the local level, has been the lack of practical guidelines. In many areas of Europe large conflicts exist about the utilisation of the remaining natural areas. Land use changes resulting in habitat fragmentation or degradation are also among the most important threats for many species included in "the Birds directive". Thus, there is a need for clearer guidelines how the landscape should be structured in order to secure viable populations of threatened and endangered species. As a consequence of "the Habitats directive" a legal foundation has been founded for setting up a network of sites in order to maintain or restore natural or semi-natural habitats and species of Community interest (the so-called Natura 2000 network). It is important when designing such a network that it is best suited for conserving the biological resources. European birds are among the most well studied taxa in the world, partly due to the great effort over years of dedicated and skilled amateur ornithologists. This project aims to develop methods in assessing population viability from such data sets, which can be used to identify the most vulnerable bird species. Since birds as a group are of great public interest and may also serve as indicators for species diversity in other taxa as well, such information should be included in the planning of reserve networks such as Natura 2000.ObjectivesThe purpose with the present project is to suggest general procedures for estimating the size of minimum viable bird populations. We will do this by integrating theorists and empiricists to develop applicable, fairly, general models, and to confront those with high-quality data and experimentally tractable model systems. We will use the results of these analyses to derive guidelines for how the landscape should be structured to reduce the risk of extinction in spatially structured populations of threatened or endangered species.Expected impactsThe project is expected to have three major impacts:(i) It will provide data on how large areas that should be considered as a unit when managing a threatened or endangered species.(ii) The project will be one of the first that experimentally examine some of the practical recommendations from conservation biological theory for the management of fragmented bird populations. Hopefully, these analyses, combining theoretical, descriptive and theoretical work, will result in some "rules of thumb" for management of such bird populations. And, finally, (iii) the project will illustrate the importance and potential significance for conservation of securing and maintaining long-term data set, often collected in close collaboration with devoted amateurs.By signing the Convention on Biodiversity in 1992, the European Union and its Member States affirmed that conservation of biological diversity is a common concern of mankind. The main contribution of the European Union to fulfil the Convention's requirements has been "the Birds Directive" and "the Habitats Directive". A practical problem that has often arisen when trying to implement these directives into practical policies, in particular at the local level, has been the lack of practical guidelines. In many areas of Europe large conflicts exist about the utilisation of the remaining natural areas. Land use changes resulting in habitat fragmentation or degradation are also among the most important threats for many species included in "the Birds directive". Thus, there is a need for clearer guidelines how the landscape should be structured in order to secure viable populations of threatened and endangered species. As a consequence of "the Habitats directive" a legal foundation has been founded for setting up a network of sites in order to maintain or restore natural or semi-natural habitats and species of Community interest (the so-called Natura 2000 network). It is important when designing such a network that it is best suited for conserving the biological resources. European birds are among the most well-studied taxa in the world, partly due to the great effort over years of dedicated and skilled amateur ornithologists. This project aims to develop methods in assessing population viability from such data sets, which can be used to identify the most vulnerable bird species. Since birds as a group are of great public interest and may also serve as indicators for species diversity in other taxa as well, such information should be included in the planning of reserve networks such as Natura 2000. Expected impacts The project is expected to have three major impacts: (i) It will provide data on how large areas that should be considered as a unit when managing a threatened or endangered species. (ii) The project will be one of the first that experimentally examine some of the practical recommendations from conservation biological theory for the management of fragmented bird populations. Hopefully, these analyses, combining theoretical, descriptive and theoretical work, will result in some "rules of thumb" for management of such bird populations. And, finally, (iii) the project will illustrate the importance and potential significance for conservation of securing and maintaining longterm data-set, often collected in close collaboration with devoted amateurs. Fields of science natural sciencesbiological scienceszoologyornithologynatural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystems Programme(s) FP5-EESD - Programme for research, technological development and demonstration on "Energy, environment and sustainable development, 1998-2002" Topic(s) 1.1.4.-2. - Key action Global Change, Climate and Biodiversity Call for proposal Data not available Funding Scheme CSC - Cost-sharing contracts Coordinator NORWEGIAN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY EU contribution No data Address Hogskoleringen 5 7491 TRONDHEIM Norway See on map Total cost No data Participants (4) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE France EU contribution No data Address Route de Mende 1919 34293 MONTPELLIER See on map Total cost No data NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE - MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY Denmark EU contribution No data Address Kalo Grenaavej 12 8410 ROENDE See on map Total cost No data UNIVERSITAIRE INSTELLING ANTWERPEN - UNIVERSITEIT ANTWERPEN Belgium EU contribution No data Address Universiteitsplein 1 2610 WILRIJK (ANTWERPEN) See on map Total cost No data UNIVERSITE PIERRE ET MARIE CURIE - PARIS VI France EU contribution No data Address Quai Saint Bernard 7, Case A7 237 75252 PARIS See on map Total cost No data