BANNER IMAGE: Yellow-rumped Warbler. | Photo by Roger Hangarter
Nature marks the changing seasons. Nature sustains us, grounds us, nurtures us, and nature needs our help. Why? Because nature measured in biodiversity—variety in plants, animals, microbes—is disappearing faster than we can comprehend with negative consequences for us all.
Biodiversity is the leading indicator of the health of the ecosystems that support life. If we are to stop the losses, we must identify the causes of decline, recommend solutions in conservation practice and policy, and broaden awareness of the need for an urgent response.
The Midwest Center for Biodiversity—announced on September 21, 2023—conducts research to determine causes of the loss of biodiversity in the Midwest to develop solutions and encourage implementation. MCB members are researchers, educators, and community members.
The center is affiliated with Kent Farm Research Station which provides facilities for research and education, including the Kent Farm Banding Station.
The center also engages internationally with ongoing projects in South America.
Birds are one of several key areas of the center’s research because migratory birds are among the species in steepest decline. Birds hold great cultural, ecological, and economic importance, and they also provide valuable services to natural and agricultural systems. Birds are embedded in nature, and losses of diverse species are being repeated over and over again across the Midwest and the globe. But birds are not alone: plants, mammals, insects, snails, fish, all and more are in decline.
