This book brings together a selection of original studies submitted to Biodiversity and Conservation that address biodiversity and conservation in Europe. Europe is certainly the most intensively inventoried region of the world; detailed maps are available for species distributions while action plans are being drawn up for species under threat. At the same time, the wildlife of Europe has been subject to enormous human pressures, with limited ‘wilderness’ sites remaining in most countries. Europe consequently presents a case-study of what the human impact on biodiversity has been, and also what can be done to improve the situation.

The contributions in this volume are drawn from a wide range of countries and discuss diverse organism and habitat types. They collectively provide a snap-shot of the sorts of studies and actions being taken in Europe to address issues in biodiversity and conservation – topical examples that will make the volume especially valuable for use in conservation biology courses.