Grzegorz Mikusiński Department of Conservation Biology, Grimsö Wildlife Research Station, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Title Woodpeckers (Picidae) – distribution, conservation and research in a global perspective Abstract The main aim of this paper was to examine and discuss the global pattern of woodpecker diversity from the conservation perspective. I also reviewed some ecological traits and conservation status of the entire family Picidae and related them to the human driven change in their habitats. Finally, I made a global overview of the research on woodpeckers in order to identify the major gaps in our knowledge that make management of populations of these species difficult. The hotspots of woodpecker species richness identified by especially created GIS database were found in tropical and subtropical forests of south-east Asia, South and Central America and Equatorial Africa. Most of these hotspots were located in poor, developing countries. Almost 90% of articles published in 1985-2004 encompassed studies performed in North America and Europe, i.e. in geographic area harbouring only 17% of the global number of Picidae species.   Personal Born 18.7.1960 in Katowice (Poland). Married since 1981. Two daughters: 20 and 23 years old. Polish citizen. Since 1991 in Sweden. Good ability to speak, read, and write in Swedish, English, and Russian. Education and employment 1985 MSc/Engineer Degree in Agronomy at the Agricultural University in Cracow 1984 - 1990 Work at the State Agricultural Farm in Bierdzany (Opole county) 1986 - 1989 Free-lance studies (3 courses in biology) at Wroclaw University 1988 - 1990 Work as field-assistant at the University of Uppsala and at the Dept. of Biol. Sci., Florida State University, Tallahassee, USA (tot. 11 months) 1990 - 1997 PhD-study and part-time work at the Dept. of Conservation Biology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SUAS) 1992 Participation (3 months) in two courses at the University of Minnesota, USA (Conservation Biology, GIS in Wildlife Research) 1993 Research (1 month) in Pechoro-Illych Zapovednik, Russia 1994 Research (3 months) on the endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker at the Dept. of Biological Sciences, Florida State University and Tall Timbers Research Station 1997 Doctoral Degree in Wildlife Biology at the Dept. of Conservation Biology, SUAS. PhD-thesis ?Woodpeckers in time and space: the relative role of natural and anthropogenic factors? (Opponent Prof. R. T. T. Forman, Harvard University, USA) 1999 Participation in basic pedagogic course (4-weeks) at SUAS 2000 Participation in pedagogic course (4-weeks) for supervisors at SUAS 1997 - Employed as researcher at the Dept. of Conservation Biology, SUAS 2000 - 2005 Employed as lecturer the Dept. of Natural Sciences, Örebro University Participation in projects 1997 - 2002 trans-disciplinary project "Sustainable landscapes" within research programme "Remote Sensing for the Environment" funded by MISTRA and in project on road planning and maintenance of biodiversity values in the landscape funded by the Swedish Road Administration 1999 GIS-based analysis of results of key-biotope scheme in the county of Värmland (funded by the Värmland County Administrative Board) 2000 participation in project funded by SIDA concerning forest fragmentation and landscape sustainability in Udzungwa Mts., Tanzania 2000 - 2001 participation in project "Landscape typology and indicators for nature protection". An EU-funded project (Joint Research Centre, Ispra) 2000 - 2001 participation in project "Critical thresholds for habitat loss in boreal forest ? an international synthesis" funded by MISTRA 2000 - 2003 responsible for 2 implementation projects in nature conservation planning in Dalarna and Gävleborgs counties and Örebro municipality 2003 participation in an interdisciplinary study on biodiversity in cultural landscapes in Romania and Poland 2003 - co-leader of research project dealing with biodiversity modelling within programme HEUREKA funded by MISTRA and SLU 2003 - 2004 leader of the implementation project "Valuable forests in Örebro county" funded by MISTRA and Örebro County Administrative Board 2003 - 2004 development of the research project dealing with biodiversity modelling in lowland Nepal and India (planning grant from SIDA) University teaching and supervision 1998 - 2001 Co-arranger and teacher at the course "Applied Landscape Ecology" including study trip to Baltic countries and Poland (SUAS, C-level, 5 credits) 1999 Co-arranger of an interdisciplinary PhD-course "Landscape sustainability and remote sensing" (Poland, Ukraine, Hungary and Romania) 2000 Co-arranger and teacher (from 2001 main teacher) at the course "Ecology and Conservation of Natural and Cultural Landscapes" (Örebro University, C) 2000 - 2002 Guest lecturer at the course ?Landscape conservation? given at the Dept. of Landscape Planning, SUAS in Alnarp 2000 - Co-supervisor of three PhD-students (Örebro University, SUAS, Karlstad University) 2002 - Supervisor of 6 graduate students at Örebro University 2003 Co-arranger and the main teacher at the course "Analysis and modelling of landscape information" (Örebro University, C-level, 10 credits) Referee assignments Acta Ornith., Ambio, Animal Conservation, Ann. Zoologici Fennici, Biological Conservation, Ecography, Ecological Bulletins, J. of Environmental Management, J. of Wildlife Manage., Ornis Fennica, Wildlife Biology   Publications (selected from totally 25 articles published in journals with referee system) Mikusiński, G. & Edenius, L. Assessing ecological functionality of old forest in Sweden using synthetic species and kNN-estimates of forest variables. Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research. In press. Edenius, L. & Mikusiński, G. Utility of habitat suitability models as biodiversity assessment tools in forest management. Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research. In press. Manton, M.G., Angelstam, P. & Mikusiński, G. 2005. Modelling habitat suitability for deciduous forest focal species - a sensitivity analysis using different satellite land cover data. Landscape Ecology 20:827-839. download pdf, 0.3 MB Sandström, U.G., Angelstam, P. & Mikusiński, G. In press. Ecological diversity of birds in relation to the structure of urban green space. Landscape and Urban Planning. Mikusiński, G. & Angelstam, P. 2004. Occurrence of mammals and birds with different ecological characteristics in relation to forest cover in Europe – do macroecological data make sense?. Ecological Bulletins 51: 265-275. download pdf, 1 MB Mikusiński, G., Angelstam, P. & Sporrong, U. 2003. Distribution of deciduous stands in villages located in coniferous forest landscapes in Sweden. Ambio 32:520-526. Angelstam, P., Mikusiński, G., B-. I. Rönnbäck, Östman, A. Lazdinis, M., Roberge, J.M., Arnberg, W. & Olsson, J. 2003. Two-dimensional gap analysis - improving strategic and tactic conservation planning and biodiversity policy implementation. Ambio 32: 527-534. Angelstam, P., Bütler, R., Lazdinis, M., Mikusiński, G. & Roberge, J.M. 2003. Habitat thresholds for focal species at multiple scales and forest biodiversity conservation – dead wood as an example. Annales Zoologici Fennici 41. Mikusiński, G., Gromadzki, M. and Chylarecki, P. 2001. Woodpeckers as indicators of forest bird diversity. Conservation Biology 15: 208-217. download pdf, 3.2 MB Mikusiński, G. & Angelstam, P. 1998. Economic geography, forest distribution and woodpecker diversity in central Europe. Conservation Biology 12: 200-208. Engstrom, T. & Mikusiński, G. 1998. Ecological neighborhoods in Red-cockaded Woodpecker populations. Auk 115: 473-477. Mikusiński, G. 1995. Population trends in black woodpecker in relation to changes and characteristics of European forests. Ecography 18:363-369.   Institution address: Grzegorz Mikusiński Department of Conservation Biology, Grimsö Wildlife Research Station Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-730 91 Riddarhyttan, Sweden grzegorz.mikusinski@nvb.slu.se