Bird community patterns in sub–Mediterranean pastures: the effects of shrub cover and grazing intensity

Abstract

Shrubs are widely considered a threat to grassland biodiversity. We investigated the effects of shrub cover and grazing intensity on bird communities in sub–Mediterranean pastures in Bulgaria. The point–count method was used on 80 plots in open (< 10% shrub cover) and shrubby (approx. 20% cover) pastures under either intensive or extensive management (grazing intensity) from 2008 to 2009. We recorded a total of 1,956 observations of birds from 53 species. Main environmental gradients accounting for the bird community pattern were related to vegetation succession and land productivity. Bird species richness was higher in shrubby pastures than in open sites, while no effect was found in respect to total bird abundance. Bird species diversity (i.e. H’ index) was highest in extensive shrubby pastures. Shrubland specialists were positively affected by shrub cover and extensive management of pastures while grassland and woodland specialists showed no significant response to these factors. We conclude that a small proportion of shrubs within pastures may be beneficial for farmland birds and sustainable management of pastures could be achieved by greater flexibility of national agri–environmental schemes.

Bird taxonomic and functional responses to land abandonment in wood-pastures

“…In contrast, our results show forest species may benefit from land abandonment (Fig. 3a) and similar results observed in wood-pastures across Europe (Sirami et al 2009;Nikolov et al 2011;Jakobsson et al 2018). Dense shrublands are known to be suitable for forest species such as Erithacus rubecula, Sylvia atricapilla and Troglodytes troglodytes by providing feeding resources and reducing predation (Santana et al 2012).…”

Direct and indirect effects of agricultural land cover on avian biodiversity in eastern Canada

“… Rodewald and Yahner, 2001 ; Endenburg et al 2019 Shrubland → Shrub-Edge Bird Richness + As shrubland increases, shrub-edge bird richness increases because shrubland provides nesting habitat. Nikolov et al, 2011 ; Shake et al, 2011 Hedgerow → Forest Bird Richness + As hedgerows increase, forest bird richness increases because hedgerows provide nesting and roosting habitat, and connectivity among forest patches. Benton et al, 2003 ; Wilson et al, 2017 Hedgerow → Open Country Bird Richness – As hedgerows increase, open country bird richness decreases because birds nesting near hedgerows suffer high predation rates.…”