Avian Conservation in the Anthropocene: Challenges, Innovations, and Future Directions

Introduction

Birds are among the most visible and well-studied indicators of ecosystem health, but are notably facing an escalating array of threats in the Anthropocene. Recent global assessments paint a sobering picture: nearly half of the world's bird species are experiencing population declines, with over 1,400 species at risk of extinction. The losses are not confined to rare or localized species—even once-common birds are disappearing at alarming rates. This crisis is compounded by the accelerating pace of environmental change.

Climate change is reshaping species distributions, phenologies, and ecological interactions at unprecedented rates. Habitat loss continues unabated, with agricultural intensification, urbanization, and infrastructure development fragmenting landscapes and eliminating breeding, stopover, and wintering areas. Habitat degradation continues, with the wetland ecosystem facing particularly severe problems. Emerging threats—from renewable energy infrastructure and artificial light pollution to novel pathogens, antibiotic, synthetic chemicals, and microplastics—add layers of complexity to conservation challenges.

Yet the Anthropocene is not solely a story of decline and loss. It also brings opportunities for conservation. Technological innovations—including genomic tools, artificial intelligence, biologging, remote sensing, and acoustic monitoring—are revolutionizing our ability to track, understand, and protect bird populations at scales previously unattainable. Citizen science networks now mobilize millions of observers worldwide, generating datasets of unprecedented spatial and temporal scope. Conservation frameworks are evolving beyond traditional protected areas to embrace landscape-scale planning, nature-based solutions in urban environments, and community-led stewardship that integrates biodiversity conservation with human well-being. Growing public awareness and concern for environmental issues, particularly among younger generations, create momentum for conservation action and policy reform.

Nonetheless, significant gaps remain between scientific knowledge and conservation practice. Many threatened species lack basic information on population status, distribution, and ecology. We still have limited understanding of how multiple stressors interact across the annual cycle to affect population dynamics. The effectiveness of many conservation interventions remains inadequately evaluated, and the translation of research findings into policy and management action is often slow or incomplete. Perhaps most critically, bird conservation has traditionally focused on ecological and biological factors while inadequately addressing the human dimensions—including indigenous knowledge systems, socioeconomic drivers of threats, human-wildlife conflict, and the equitable distribution of conservation costs and benefits.

This virtual special issue emerges from the recognition that addressing avian conservation challenges in the Anthropocene requires integrating cutting-edge science with practical solutions, bridging disciplinary boundaries, and fostering collaboration across geographic and cultural contexts.

Topic Covered

1. Climate Change Impacts: Phenological shifts and mismatches; Range expansions and contractions; Adaptive responses and evolutionary changes; Measuring genomic vulnerability under climatic change.

2. Habitat Loss and Degradation: Urbanization effects on bird communities; Agricultural intensification; Wetland degradation; Landscape-scale conservation planning; loss of migratory connectivity.

3. Emerging Threats: Renewable energy infrastructure impacts; Light and noise pollution; Road kills and collision; Occurrence and impacts of novel pollutants and emerging zoonoses on bird health.

4. Conservation genomics: Loss of genetic diversity; Using genomics to design genetic rescue interventions; Genomic indicators of population viability; Predicting extinction risk from genomic datal; Microbiome-host coevolution studies

5. Resolving bird-human conflict: Indigenous Knowledge Integration; Behavioral ecology and adaptation in conflict contexts; Ecosystem services and disservices of bird in agricultural fields; Conflict-sensitive land-use planning and biodiversity-friendly agriculture; Ecosystem-friendly deterrents and non-lethal management

6. Policy and Management: Effectiveness of protected areas; International conservation frameworks; Evidence-based decision making; Citizen Science and scalable data networks

Submission instructions

All submissions to this Virtual Special Issue will undergo the full standard peer-review process of the journal Avian Research. Manuscripts should be formatted according to the Guide for Authors of the journal and submitted via the online editorial system. Remember to choose the short title of this Virtual Special Issue: “Avian Conservation in the Anthropocene” when submitting the manuscript.

For more information, please contact the editorial office: avianresearch@bjfu.edu.cn

Submission Deadline

31 December 2026

Guest Editors