Declining birds in Australian agricultural landscapes may benefit from aspects of the European agri-environment model

Attwood, Simon; Park, Sarah E.; Maron, Martine; Collard, Stuart J.; Robinson, Doug; Reardon‐Smith, Kathryn; Cockfield, Geoff

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2009.04.008

Cited by 39 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…Notably, predictions for these species may be overly optimistic, because other factors related to land use intensity may negatively affect them. Increasingly intensive use of grasslands in the European Union, for example, is associated with the decline of grassland birds (46,47), and similar trends may exist in Australia (48,49).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Second, we applied the calibrated demographic model to grazed sites throughout the region and used regression modeling to find landscape-scale predictors of modeled future tree densities. Third, drawing on these landscape-scale predictors, we produced landscape-scale maps of predicted tree densities at four time steps into the future (24,48,96, and 192 y) and compared these with a map of present tree density. Fourth, we used our field data to develop original habitat models for 32 bird species and six bat species, with particular emphasis on their response to tree density.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Tree decline and the future of Australian farmland biodiversity

Fischer

Zerger²,

Gibbons

et al. 2010

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

118

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Farmland biodiversity is greatly enhanced by the presence of trees. However, farmland trees are declining worldwide, including in North America, Central America, and parts of southern Europe. We show that tree decline and its likely consequences are particularly severe in Australia's temperate agricultural zone, which is a threatened ecoregion. Using field data on trees, remotely sensed imagery, and a demographic model for trees, we predict that by 2100, the number of trees on an average farm will contract to two-thirds of its present level. Statistical habitat models suggest that this tree decline will negatively affect many currently common animal species, with predicted declines in birds and bats of up to 50% by 2100. Declines were predicted for 24 of 32 bird species modeled and for all of six bat species modeled. Widespread declines in trees, birds, and bats may lead to a reduction in economically important ecosystem services such as shade provision for livestock and pest control. Moreover, many other species for which we have no empirical data also depend on trees, suggesting that fundamental changes in ecosystem functioning are likely. We conclude that Australia's temperate agricultural zone has crossed a threshold and no longer functions as a selfsustaining woodland ecosystem. A regime shift is occurring, with a woodland system deteriorating into a treeless pasture system. Management options exist to reverse tree decline, but new policy settings are required to encourage their widespread adoption.countryside biogeography | grassy box woodlands | ranchland | regime shift | scattered trees T he future of farmland biodiversity is a major concern around the world (1-3). Farmland biodiversity is valuable in its own right, but also because it provides ecosystem services that are of direct benefit to agricultural production. For example, birds and bats control insect pests (4-6), and trees provide shade for livestock (7,8). Scattered trees occurring throughout the farmland matrix are prominent features of agricultural landscapes around the world, including in southern Europe (9, 10), North America (11, 12), Central America (13-15), and Australia (16). Farmland trees often represent relicts of largely cleared forest or woodland ecosystems (17,18) and are believed to play important roles in maintaining ecosystem function and farmland biodiversity (7,13,16). Southeastern Australia's temperate agricultural zone is part of a threatened ecoregion (19) where farmland trees are declining rapidly. In cropping landscapes, trees are cleared to make way for agricultural machinery (20,21). In livestock grazing landscapes, trees are declining because of a combination of natural or accelerated tree mortality coupled with widespread recruitment failure (22). The decline of scattered trees is increasingly recognized as a threat to biodiversity and associated ecosystem services, both in the academic literature (7,17,20,(22)(23)(24) and increasingly in conservation policy (25).Scattered trees are declining not only in Australia, b...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Tree decline and the future of Australian farmland biodiversity

Fischer

Zerger²,

Gibbons

et al. 2010

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

118

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“…Finally, we expected that (5) farmland bird assemblage composition would be increasingly dominated by the steppe specialists. Our study has implications for the design of effective AES and other schemes funding conservation on farmland, which are of general relevance for biodiversity conservation both in Europe and elsewhere (Attwood et al 2009;Kleijn et al 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mixed Effects of Long‐Term Conservation Investment in Natura 2000 Farmland

Santana

Reino

Stoate

et al. 2013

Conservation Letters

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“…Program managers recognised an opportunity to increase the program's efficiency through experience gained from implementing the Box Gum Grassy Woodland Project; desktop research; staff expertise (see, for example, Attwood et al 2009); and formal review and structured feedback mechanisms with delivery agents and land managers. Consequently, they sought to improve program design by broadening the program's reach through targeting multiple EPBC-listed ecological communities in a region, and incorporating options for conservation management of the surrounding matrix through buffers and connectivity.…”

Section: Introducing the Environmental Stewardship Programmentioning

confidence: 99%