Population dynamics of the Swedish Ornithological Society

2003

It has recently been recognized that there is declining interest in ornithology among the younger generations. In this paper we analyse the short and long-term dynamics of the Swedish Ornithological Society (SOF) and the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation (SNF) by using analytical tools from population ecology. We first show that the increasing number of SOF and SNF members is not the result of a constant proportion of ornithologists or people interested in nature conservation among a growing Swedish population. Hence, the number of members most likely reflects the true interest in joining organizations such as SOF. We also demonstrate that the growth rate of SOF can be fairly well est…