Winter density and habitat preferences of three declining granivorous farmland birds: The importance of the keeping of poultry and dairy farms

Šálek, Martin; Havlíček, Jan; Riegert, Jan; Nešpor, Marek; Fuchs, Roman; Kipson, Marina

doi:10.1016/j.jnc.2015.01.004

Cited by 19 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Therefore, the negative effects of house renovation on bird abundance are comparable to the previously reported negative effects of an increased share of new housing in villages (Rosin et al, 2016; High variability in the response of building-nesting species in our abundance models suggests that species-specific responses also may be driven by other important factors that vary across villages. These factors could include the abundance of food resources, predation risk and disturbance (Ahnström et al, 2008;Šálek et al, 2015;Söderström, Pärt, & Rydén, 1998). In addition, the structure and composition of the surrounding landscape may strongly influence local bird communities (Söderström & Pärt, 2000).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reduced biodiversity in modernized villages: A conflict between sustainable development goals

Rosin

Hiron

Żmihorski

et al. 2020

Journal of Applied Ecology

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Despite large conservation efforts to halt the loss of farmland biodiversity in Europe, negative population trends are still observed, especially for common species. Old villages and human settlements are biodiversity hotspots and important breeding habitats for farmland birds, but recent requirements for energy saving measures and improved living comfort have changed their architecture and habitats. Consequently, modernization of villages may negatively affect bird diversity due to the loss of nesting and foraging sites. We investigated how the abundance and diversity of birds breeding in 104 Polish villages varied in relation to the degree of modernization as estimated by the proportion of new and renovated homesteads. Abundance of building‐nesting species, but not tree‐nesting species, declined by 50% across a gradient of old to highly modernized villages. The contribution of new versus renovated houses to the observed decline was similar. Synthesis and applications. Rural modernization may have a dramatic effect on abundance of birds nesting on buildings, thus may be an important and overlooked contributor to farmland bird population declines in Europe. Villages and rural properties fall outside of current conservation policy as they are neither protected areas nor agricultural lands (where agri‐environmental schemes can be applied). The observed conflict between sustainability goals such as increased building energy efficiency and biodiversity conservation suggests that sustainable rural development should better link modernization with conservation measures, for example, by constructing nesting sites when renovating and building new houses. The challenge is to design modern buildings that are both energy‐efficient and biodiversity‐friendly to generally improve quality of life for rural communities and to halt or reduce farmland bird declines in rural landscapes. Designers and architects can find inspiration from traditional architecture and add a variety of nest‐box types.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reduced biodiversity in modernized villages: A conflict between sustainable development goals

Rosin

Hiron

Żmihorski

et al. 2020

Journal of Applied Ecology

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“…The most plausible explanation of this shift is higher availability of food or shelter for birds in active farmsteads during winter. First, food availability during winter is crucial for birds’ survival and thus may be the main driver of species distribution among habitats (Šálek, Havlíček, et al., ; Siriwardena, Calbrade, Vickery, & Sutherland, ). Active farmsteads may offer higher availability of nutrition rich food resources such as cereal grains or other plant material associated with grain storehouses, silage holes or manure heaps.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…From the perspective of protection of farmland birds of conservation concern, changes in the structure and number of farmsteads could be especially important (Sarris, Doucha, & Mathijs, 1999). The number of breeding animals and active animal farmsteads with dairy farming, which are usually preferred by many farmland birds (Rosin et al, 2016), has rapidly declined-during 1989-2016 the number of cattle in the Czech Republic decreased by 59.3% (Czech Statistical Office, unpublished data), which has resulted in a massive decline in the number of animal farmsteads with cattle breeding (29% decrease during , Šálek, Havlíček, et al, 2015. The remaining farmsteads are undergoing modernization and old farmsteads are being replaced with new ones which may have reduced the availability of high-quality foraging and nesting sites for birds (see also Hiron et al, 2013;Rosin et al, 2016).…”

Section: The Effect Of Farmstead Typementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most of the conservation measures focus on crop land and grasslands being important for some open field species that have declined (Żmihorski et al., ). However, there is increasing evidence showing that a substantial part of rare and declining farmland birds, mainly those nesting in tree cavities or buildings, depends on human settlements (Rosin et al., ; Šálek, Havlíček, et al., ). Farmsteads within an agricultural landscape may represent strongholds for breeding populations of farmland birds and may benefit large numbers of declining species with conservation concern like white stork Ciconia ciconia , little owl Athene noctua , barn owl Tyto alba , or crested lark Galerida cristata (Hiron, Berg, Eggers, & Pärt, ; Šálek et al., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Active farmsteads are year‐round strongholds for farmland birds

Šálek

Bažant

Żmihorski

2018

Journal of Applied Ecology

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Farmland birds have experienced substantial declines over recent decades and various conservation measures have been designed to halt their massive decrease. The effectiveness of these measures is however limited, due to inappropriate identification of crucial breeding and wintering habitats. Identification of appropriate habitats, like farmsteads, and understanding seasonal changes in species richness and abundance of farmland birds within these habitats may therefore be key for farmland bird conservation. We investigated the effect of variation in farmstead management on alpha and gamma diversity of all farmland birds and red‐listed farmland birds in the Czech Republic. In particular, we evaluated the diversity of wintering and breeding birds at over 200 sites to explore: (1) differences in bird communities in three types of farmsteads and open farmland; (2) changes in species‐specific habitat preferences between winter and spring; and (3) effect of landscape composition, ruderal vegetation and altitude on bird assemblages. Farmsteads with animal production harboured the highest, whereas open farmland areas had the lowest, species richness and abundance of all farmland birds and red‐listed farmland birds. The decline of species richness in winter was more pronounced in farmland and abandoned farmsteads compared to farmsteads with plant and animal production. Single bird species showed different habitat preferences but the majority of species including red‐listed farmland birds changed preferences towards animal farmsteads during winter. Bird species richness was negatively correlated with altitude and positively with representation of ruderal vegetation. Rarefied gamma diversity confirmed local patterns for both all species and red‐listed species: the highest total species richness was observed in active animal farmsteads but differences among types were significant only during winter. Synthesis and applications. Active farmsteads are local bird diversity hotspots in agricultural landscapes, and host species of conservation concern. Our results highlight the importance of farmsteads during winter, which is a critical period for several wintering farmland species. Our research thus indicates that recent conservation measures for farmland birds should also focus on conservation within non‐farmed habitats, such as actively used farmsteads.

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“…Distance (m) to the nearest human settlements. Human settlements, usually belonging to farmers are breeding habitat for some farmland species (e.g., sparrows, swallows) and thus may increase species richness ( Šálek et al , 2015 ). However, humans may also negatively affect wild species by disturbance and activity of domestic animals ( Rosin et al , 2012 ; Doherty, Bengsen & Davis , 2014 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Constant and seasonal drivers of bird communities in a wind farm: implications for conservation

Rosin

Skórka

Szymański

et al. 2016

PeerJ

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Background. One of the most difficult challenges for conservation biology is to reconcile growing human demands for resources with the rising need for protecting nature. Wind farms producing renewable energy have been recognised to be a threat for birds, but clear directives for environmental planning are still missing.Methods. Point counts were performed to study the relationship between eight environmental variables and bird populations in different parts of a year on the largest Polish wind farm between March 2011 and February 2013. Variables potentially related to species richness (Chao 1 estimator) and the abundance of the entire bird community as well as five selected farmland species were analysed with the use of generalized linear mixed models.Results. Some associations between the studied variables and bird populations were season/year specific, while others had a constant direction (positive or negative) across seasons and/or years. The latter were distance to the nearest turbine, field size, number of wind turbines, proximity of settlements and water bodies. Spatial autocorrelation and counting time were significantly correlated with bird population estimates but the directions of these relationships varied among seasons and years. Associations between abundance of individual species and environmental variables were species-specific.Conclusions. The results demonstrated a constant negative relationship between wind turbine proximity and bird numbers. Other environmental variables, such as field size, proximity of settlements and water bodies that also had constant associations with bird populations across seasons may be taken into account when minimizing adverse effects of wind farm development on birds or choosing optimal locations of new turbines.

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Winter density and habitat preferences of three declining granivorous farmland birds: The importance of the keeping of poultry and dairy farms

Cited by 19 publications

References 49 publications

Reduced biodiversity in modernized villages: A conflict between sustainable development goals

Reduced biodiversity in modernized villages: A conflict between sustainable development goals

Active farmsteads are year‐round strongholds for farmland birds

Constant and seasonal drivers of bird communities in a wind farm: implications for conservation

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