Reproductive success of WoodlarksLullula arboreain traditional and recently colonized habitats

Abstract

Capsule Set-aside schemes have allowed breeding Woodlarks to colonize farmland, but heathland and forestry habitats remain the stronghold. Aims To determine which habitats provide the best conditions for breeding Woodlarks and whether a buffer effect is operating, with density increasing faster in the poorer quality habitat as the population grows. Methods Habitat colonization was examined and breeding success compared among heathland, clearfelled and young conifer plantations, and farmland set-aside. Results Woodlarks on heathland and forestry habitats had similar clutch sizes and nesting success, but clutch sizes may be lower on farmland. Heathland was recolonized when population density was low in forest habitats, while farmland was colonized when density was increasing, and areas close to forest were preferentially occupied. Woodlarks breeding on farmland preferred set-aside stubbles to other field types. Conclusion Forestry and heathland habitats are similar in quality for breeding Woodlarks, with no evidence for a buffer effect. Farmland set-aside may be suboptimal but the area available is much greater than the area of forest or heathland, and could therefore make a significant contribution to the conservation of the Woodlark population. However, set-aside should not be seen as an alternative to the conservation of forest and heathland.

Ecosystem and competition impacts of introduced deer

“…Relative patterns of habitat use of introduced Chinese muntjac and native roe deer have been studied in a conifer-dominated afforested landscape (200 km 2 ) in eastern England (Hemami et al 2004(Hemami et al , 2005. Much of the conservation interest in this landscape depends on open ground habitats, including a peak in plant species diversity (Eycott et al 2006a), populations of scarce heathland carabids (Lin et al 2007) and a population of woodlark Lullula arborea, a ground-nesting bird species of European Conservation Concern (Wright et al 2007). In most forest growth stages, the density of muntjac exceeds that of roe (in prethicket stands, mean over-winter density is 140% that of roe; thicket 260%; pole 340%; mature 260%).…”

The role of managed coniferous forest in the conservation of reptiles

“…Unfortunately this change has occurred in the absence of a recognised need for detailed research into the specific habitat requirements of many species of conservation interest (Quine, Humphrey & Watts, 2004). As a consequence there remains a common perception that plantation forests are ecological deserts that do not provide habitat for valued organisms (Brockerhoff et al 2008) despite assemblages of open-habitat taxa occurring in clear-felled and young pine stands worldwide (Barbaro et al, 2005;Wright et al, 2007;Wilson et al, 2009;Uribe & Estades, 2014;Calladine et al, 2015;Sharps et al, 2015).…”

Nightjar Caprimulgus europaeus and Woodlark Lullula arborea– recovering species in Britain?

“…In recent years, an increase has been noted in the occurrence of winter flocks of Woodlarks on rotational set‐aside stubbles in Breckland (Atkinson 2001), notably barley stubble (Wright et al . in press).…”

“…The use of winter stubbles has been recorded previously (Payn 1978, Sitters 1986), but the extent was unknown. Their increased use for breeding is now becoming apparent, possibly as an overspill from planted forests (Wright et al . in press).…”