Birds of the World in Decline
Monteverde Cloud Forest, Costa Rica

There are nearly 10,000 known bird species worldwide. Up to 25 percent will likely be extinct or critically endangered by the year 2100.

Loss of specific birds attuned to a particular environment can damage ecosystems such as the Monteverde cloud forest.

One sensitive species, the bellbird, eats fruit from trees in Monteverde. It releases seeds as it regularly perches at the canopy’s edge to seek mates. Because seedlings growing in canopy gaps have a better chance of survival, cloud forest growth may decline if the bellbird dies out.

Paper

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, December 28, 2004;101(52):18042-18047

Researchers

Çağan Şekercioğlu, Gretchen Daily, Paul Ehrlich; Stanford University

Image Credits

Costa Rica - NASA & Global Land Cover Facility, University of Maryland
Monteverde cloud forest - Raymond Sluiter
Three-wattled bellbird - Will Cook

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