RT Journal Article
T1 Alarming conservation status of Western European steppe birds and their habitats: an expert-based review of current threats, traits and knowledge gaps
A1 Gómez Catasús, Julia
A1 Benítez López, Ana
A1 Díaz Esteban, Mario
A1 González del Portillo, David
A1 Pérez Granados, Cristian
A1 Alonso, Juan Carlos
A1 Arroyo, Beatriz
A1 Abril Colón, Inmaculada
A1 Barrero, Adrián
A1 Barrientos Yuste, Rafael
A1 Bolonio, Luis
A1 Bota, Gerard
A1 Brambilla, Mattia
A1 Brotons, Lluís
A1 Bustillo de la Rosa, Daniel
A1 Cabodevilla, Xabier
A1 Carrascal, Luis M.
A1 Carricondo, Ana
A1 Casas, Fabián
A1 Catry, Inês
A1 Crispim Mendes, Tiago
A1 Erciyas Yavuz, Kiraz
A1 Galván, Ismael
A1 Gameiro, João
A1 García, Jesús T.
A1 Giralt, David
A1 Illera, Juan Carlos
A1 Leiva, Antonio
A1 López Iborra, Germán M.
A1 Mañosa, Santi
A1 Marques, Ana T.
A1 Martín De La Calle, Carlos Alfonso
A1 Medrano Vizcaíno, Pablo
A1 Morales, Manuel B.
A1 Moreira, Francisco
A1 Mougeot, François
A1 Nikolov, Boris
A1 Olea, Pedro P.
A1 Onrubia, Alejandro
A1 Oñate Casado, Javier
A1 Palacín, Carlos
A1 Pearce Higgins, James W.
A1 Petrusková, Tereza
A1 Reverter, Margarita
A1 Revilla Martín, Natalia
A1 Rigal, Stanislas
A1 Sáez Gómez, Pedro
A1 Šálek, Martin
A1 Salgado, Iván
A1 Santangeli, Andrea
A1 Sanz Pérez, Ana
A1 Seoane, Javier
A1 Serrano, David
A1 Silva, João Paulo
A1 Tarjuelo, Rocío
A1 Traba, Juan
A1 Tryjanowski, Piotr
A1 Ucero, Alberto
A1 Václav, Radovan
A1 Valera, Francisco
A1 Vögeli, Matthias
A1 Başkent, Emin Zeki
A1 Zurdo, Julia
A1 Bravo, Carolina
AB European steppe birds are facing unprecedented declines, positioning among the most threatened bird groups. We provide a comprehensive review and synthesis of the available knowledge on Western European (WE) steppe birds, focusing on their ecology, functional traits, population range trends and major threats. Using an expert-based participatory approach, we first created a consensual list of 37 WE species and reviewed the current knowledge on these key topics. Although 67.6 % of species show declining population ranges, only 18.9 % are classified as Endangered or Vulnerable according to the European IUCN Red List. Notably, several species exhibit range contractions over 5 % yet remain listed as Least Concern, indicating a need for re-evaluation based on the most up-to-date data. Threatened species have distinct functional traits compared to non-threatened species, typically being sedentary, large-bodied, long-lived, and exhibiting ground-foraging and ground-nesting behaviours. This highlights the potential for functional diversity loss if threatened species become extinct. Species experiencing the greatest range contractions share many of these traits or exhibit arboreal or aerial lifestyles, carnivorous diets and partial to fully migratory behaviours. Experts identified land use change and human-caused mortality as the main threats, followed by pollution and climate change, although the effects of the latter remain poorly understood for most species. Because significant knowledge gaps on climate and pollution effects remain for most species, these two threats should be the focus of future investigations. This synthesis enhances our understanding of the threats faced by WE steppe birds and provides guidance for prioritizing future research and conservation efforts.
PB Elsevier
SN 0006-3207
YR 2025
FD 2025-11
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/133424
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/133424
LA eng
NO Gómez-Catasús J, Benítez-López A, Díaz M, et al. Alarming conservation status of Western European steppe birds and their habitats: An expert-based review of current threats, traits and knowledge gaps. Biological Conservation 2025;311:111414. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111414.
NO Acknowledgments:Carolina Bravo was funded by the Steppe-Forward chair (UAM-CTFC-TotalEnergies)
NO Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
NO Centre de Ciència i Tecnologia Forestal de Catalunya
NO TotalEnergies
DS Docta Complutense
RD 19 mar 2026