Does land use change influence predation of bird nests?

Abstract

Worldwide, many areas of agricultural land which were once covered with native vegetation have been converted to tree plantations. Such landscape transformation can influence the dynamics of wildlife populations through, for example, altering rates of predation (e.g. predation of nests of birds). Nest predation can influence reproductive success and, in turn, may alter populations by affecting juvenile recruitment. We quantified predation of bird nests in woodland remnants surrounded by two types of land use, grazing farmland and exotic Radiata pine (Pinus radiata) plantation. We also examined differences in predation rates between artificial and natural nests. We found both artificial and natural nests were more susceptible to nest predation in woodland remnants surrounded by a pine plantation than in woodland remnants located within farmland. Our study suggests that higher levels of nest predation may reduce occupancy of woodland remnants by small-bodied birds over time, including species of conservation concern. This may have been occurred as a result of the conversion of semi-cleared grazing land to exotic pine plantation.

Native forest metacommunity structures in Uruguay shaped by novel land‐use types in their surroundings

“…Landscape modification affects particular taxa and produces variation at the trophic levels (e.g., da Silva & Rossa‐Feres, 2017), including disappearance of dispersal agents (e.g., Mortelliti & Lindenmayer, 2015). There is evidence that, due to a lack of resources from the original habitats, landscape with afforestation increases nest predation of birds by generalists (e.g., Okada et al, 2019). This can reduce both abundance and richness of these dispersal agents (Phifer et al, 2017; Terborgh et al, 2008).…”

Spatio-Temporal Variation of Habitat Quality for Bird Species in China Caused by Land Use Change during 1995–2015

“…Among wildlife species, birds are highly sensitive to habitat changes, and can therefore act as indicators of habitat changes [12,13]. With the advancement of urbanization, habitat reduction and habitat fragmentation caused by economic development and human activities are having increasing impacts on bird communities [14][15][16][17], which also impacts species composition [18][19][20], predation behaviors [21], and migration paths. Studies have found that the number of birds in North America has decreased by around 29% since 1970, equivalent to nearly 3 billion birds, with habitat loss being the main reason for this steep decline [2].…”