The status of breeding WoodlarksLullula arboreain Britain in 2006

Abstract

Capsule There have been marked increases (88%) in the breeding population and breeding range (46%) of Woodlarks in Britain between 1997 and 2006. Aims To provide an accurate assessment of the population and distribution of Woodlarks in Britain and how these have changed since a survey conducted in 1997. Methods Survey coverage included 'core' 1 km squares (known occupancy in 1997) and a stratified random sample, based on suitable habitat and soil type. Results A population estimate of 3064 territories was obtained, giving an increase of 88% since 1997, while the range of occupied 10 km squares had increased by 46%. The majority of territories were associated with two main habitat types; heathland (66.7%) and forestry plantation (32.4%), and farmland in the southwest (13.4%). Sandy soils held the majority of territories (80.3%). Conclusion In the UK, the Woodlark is a species of high to moderate conservation concern subject to a national Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP). This survey demonstrated that the population has increased to meet the BAP targets set in 1996 for population size and range expansions in England, and is on schedule to meet targets in Wales. The species has responded to conservation restoration projects and is highly dependent on forest management.

Protected areas facilitate species’ range expansions

“…The first analysis considers PA use by seven localized but, nonetheless, expanding species (five birds and two butterflies) that have been subject to exhaustive repeat surveys, during which potential breeding sites have been surveyed irrespective of the PA status of the land (23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30) (Table 1 and SI Materials and Methods). These species are the only expanding species in the United Kingdom (UK) for which such high-quality data are available.…”

The impact of changing habitat availability on population trends of woodland birds associated with early successional plantation woodland

“…Therefore significant changes to landscapes caused by large, even-aged plantations maturing synchronously may cause local losses while newly created habitat may not be occupied if located away from existing strongholds. Other species with similar habitat requirements may be buffered from such effects by being more able to colonize newly available habitat, such as Nightjar Caprimulgus europaeus which has seen distributional increases over a similar time period to our study, expanding from predominantly lowland habitats into upland plantations (Conway et al 2009). Demographic data suggest a temporal decline in nest success of Tree Pipit which could have contributed to the declines, although this is based on very small sample sizes and the mechanism is unknown .…”

WoodlarksLullula arboreaand landscape heterogeneity created by land abandonment

“…There, improved forest management and restoration of traditional heathlands have greatly benefited Woodlarks through the reinstatement of grazing and the clearance of dense scrub and trees to create better conditions for foraging (Wotton & Gillings 2000;Conway et al 2009 believe that our findings could help explain their overall recovery at the European scale. The present study also emphasizes how integrating behaviour and landscape heterogeneity in studies on habitat selection allows a better understanding of how species respond to land-use changes and underlines the need that some species have for landscape heterogeneity, especially in farmland birds with a high conservation profile (Blondel & Farre 1988).…”