Birds are considered as indicators of environmental and habitat changes. However, increases or decreases in individual species depend on multiple factors, making it difficult to draw definitive conclusions about habitat changes from single-species trends. In contrast, indices based on the population trends of many species do allow for such conclusions. The annually updated Swiss Bird Index SBI contains a set of such indicators. In this way, the SBI provides a valuable information base for authorities and conservation organizations.
©
© Mathias Schäf
Alpine Accentor
Domain
Research
Unit
Status of bird species
Topics
Population Development
Habitat
farmland, rocky terrain, wetlands, rivers & streams, semi-open farmland, alpine habitats, wasteland, settlements, forest, meadows and pastures
Project start
2005
Project status
ongoing
Project management
Nicolas Strebel
Project region
Switzerland
Details
Project objectives
The Swiss Bird Index summarises the population trends of breeding birds in Switzerland. It consists of an overall index and several sub-indices. In order to calculate the sub-indices, the species are selected according to habitat (forest, wetlands and water bodies, Alpine habitats, settlement), special interest (Red List, priority species for species promotion, international responsibility, indicator and target species for environmental objectives in agriculture) or according to the SBI® Climate Change (species subject to a predicted decrease or increase in the event of climate change).
Methodology
The species-specific population trends of the native, regular breeding bird species serve as the basis for calculating the Swiss Bird Index SBI. Derived from this, the SBI indices are calculated using a negative binomial model (for details of the methodology, cf. Korner-Nievergelt et al. 2022). In addition to the development summarised in this way, pie charts are used to show for the individual groups how many species have appeared or disappeared since 1990, how many have clearly increased or decreased, and how many species have shown no clear trend.
Results
Further information
The overall index and several sub-indices are included in the statistics of the Federal Offices for the Environment, the Federal Statistical Office and the Federal Office for Agriculture. Furthermore, the species-specific breeding population indices are taken into account in calculating the European species and habitat indices.
Project partner(s)
Employees
Status of bird species employee
Sylvain Antoniazza
+41 41 462 97 51
sylvain.antoniazza@vogelwarte.ch
Unit
Status of bird species
We analyse and assess the status and trends of bird populations in Switzerland.
