The Swedish landscape is constantly changing from numerous causes including changes in land use by agriculture, forestry, and other industries; construction of roads and other infrastructure; and the on-going climate changes.
Not all changes are for the worse from an environmental point of view, but they all have some effect on biodiversity.
To study these changes more effectively the Swedish EPA has developed a new national environmental monitoring programme, the National Inventory of Landscapes in Sweden (NILS). The programme monitors the state of the Swedish landscape, how it is changing, and the impact of the changes on conditions for plants and animals.
But it is already clear that many terrestrial species are suffering as a result of environmental change. An example is the dramatic decline in the numbers of many small bird species over the last 30 years.
Many bird species that are still regarded as common have declined
very significantly, owing to changes in their habitats in agricultural and
forest areas. Data cover 1975–2011. Source: The Swedish Bird Survey.
The bird monitoring report in Swedish, with summary and legends in English.