ECONOMIC-GEOGRAPHY, FOREST DISTRIBUTION, AND WOODPECKER DIVERSITY IN CENTRAL-EUROPE

To understand the complex mechanisms behind the recent biodiversity de cline, it is necessary to complement traditional biological and ecolog ical studies with studies of the economic, historic, and social contex ts related to biodiversity loss, We used the completeness of the woodp ecker guild as a biodiversity indicator to test the hypothesis that fo rest biodiversity in Europe is inversely related to the degree of urba n-economic development. We related woodpecker diversity to several soc ioeconomic indices in 20 central European countries where the basic ph ysiogeographic conditions are similar. As predicted, woodpecker divers ity was low in highly developed countries with a long history of inten sive land use, whereas in less-developed, peripheral countries, the wo odpecker diversity was much higher and no species had been lost. The n egative correlation between the degree of urbanization and woodpecker diversity was interpreted as a causal link between neotechnological la ndscape degradation and the decline of biodiversity. We discuss, and r eject, alternative hypotheses related to the slow postglacial dispersa l of species and climatic differences between western and eastern Euro pe that might explain the observed pattern of woodpecker diversity. Th e relative importance of particular woodpecker species for the level o f woodpecker diversity shows that species depending on naturally dynam ic temperature forests are particularly sensitive to anthropogenic cha nges. Finally, we stress the importance of bolistic studies on biodive rsity, including ecological, geographical, and social issues, and we e ncourage specialists and practitioners from different disciplines to e xamine the European east-west gradient to learn how to avoid the same biodiversity loss in the East that has afflicted the West.