Identifying key conservation threats to Alpine birds through expert knowledge.

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Conservation Biology
• Ornithology

Background:

• Alpine biodiversity is increasingly threatened, but data scarcity hinders threat assessment.
• Expert opinion serves as a valuable tool to bridge knowledge gaps in data-deficient situations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess perceived threats to 69 Alpine bird species over 50 years using expert knowledge.
• To identify major threats and high-risk areas for Alpine bird communities.

Main Methods:

• Experts in Alpine ecology ranked threats for 69 bird species across ten categories.
• Threat levels were analyzed for species groups and spatial distribution.

Main Results:

• Land abandonment, urbanization, leisure, and forestry were identified as primary threats.
• Open habitat and treeline species were perceived as most vulnerable.
• Northern and western Alps showed the highest overall threat levels for bird communities.

Conclusions:

• Expert knowledge effectively identifies key threats to Alpine birds.
• The study provides a framework for spatial risk assessment and future threat identification.
• Addressing expert selection bias and refining ranking procedures can enhance future assessments.