Woodlarks<i>Lullula arborea</i>and landscape heterogeneity created by land abandonment

Sirami, Clélia; Brotons, Lluı́s; Martin, Jean‐Louis

doi:10.1080/00063657.2010.532861

Cited by 18 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…A denser grass cover actually promotes the abundance of foliage‐gleaning insectivores through an increase in food supply, while a sparser cover favours ground‐foraging birds by increasing prey accessibility (Browne & Aebischer ; Vickery & Arlettaz ). Several specialist ground insectivores typical for vineyard agroecosystems, such as Eurasian hoopoe Upupa epops , Eurasian wryneck Jynx torquilla , woodlark Lullula arborea, cirl and ortolan buntings Emberiza cirlus and E. hortulana, all select microhabitats with patches of bare ground where prey are more accessible even though their abundance is lower (Barbaro & Battisti ; Sirami, Brotons & Martin ; Arlettaz et al . ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Avian pest control in vineyards is driven by interactions between bird functional diversity and landscape heterogeneity

Barbaro

Rusch

Muiruri

et al. 2016

Journal of Applied Ecology

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1. Insectivorous birds are increasingly recognized for the crucial pest control services they provide to agroecosystems. While both the foraging activity and functional diversity of birds are enhanced by multiscale habitat heterogeneity, little is known about how these relationships may influence avian top-down control of insects. Specifically, interactive effects of bird community structure and habitat heterogeneity on pest control across spatial scales have rarely been explored. 2. We sampled bird communities and measured avian predation on plasticine model prey, as a proxy for lepidopteran pest control, in 20 vineyards of south-western France. Vineyards differed both in sward heterogeneity at the local scale and amount of surrounding semi-natural habitats at the landscape scale. Functional diversity metrics and community-weighted mean traits were computed for bird communities based on a species-trait table including diet, foraging method, nesting site, migration strategy, laying date, home range size, clutch size and body mass. We used mixed models to test for the interacting effects of habitat heterogeneity and bird functional diversity on avian predation rates of plasticine prey. 3. Contrary to expectations, bird functional diversity decreased with landscape-scale heterogeneity, but was higher in vineyards managed with heterogeneous sward structures. In contrast, foliage-gleaning insectivores were more abundant in landscapes supporting more semi-natural habitats, suggesting an increase in their contribution to pest control along the landscape heterogeneity gradient. Accordingly, we found that avian predation on plasticine prey increased with bird functional evenness both in more heterogeneous vineyards at the local scale and in landscape mosaics supporting more semi-natural habitats. 4. Synthesis and applications. Our study demonstrates that habitat heterogeneity at both local and landscape scales influenced avian insectivory in vineyard agroecosystems by interacting with bird community structure. It provides important insights for ecological intensification in vineyards, pointing out that management options need to be adapted to both the functional composition of local bird communities and landscape context. We suggest that both on-field and off-field management can be used to enhance natural pest control services provided by birds in vineyards, especially by favouring sward heterogeneity and patches of semi-natural habitats within large vineyard stands at the landscape scale.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Avian pest control in vineyards is driven by interactions between bird functional diversity and landscape heterogeneity

Barbaro

Rusch

Muiruri

et al. 2016

Journal of Applied Ecology

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“…Five bird species (Corn Bunting, Little Owl, Red‐backed Shrike, Woodlark and Yellowhammer) were predicted to respond positively to land‐use diversity and thus not to profit from the protection scenario. Positive response of these species to landscape heterogeneity is well documented in the literature (Buckingham et al ., ; Cornulier & Bretagnolle, ; Brambilla et al ., , ; Sirami et al ., ). The loss of grassland following the extension of maize was predicted to negatively affect Corn Bunting, Red Kite and Whinchat, which are typically associated with grassland habitats (Perkins et al ., ; Hoffmann et al ., ; Heuck et al ., ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increased energy maize production reduces farmland bird diversity

et al. 2013

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Producing energy crops as an alternative to fossil fuels in order to reduce CO 2 emissions will lead to large-scale changes in agricultural landscapes. Here, we quantify the potential impact of an increase in maize fields on the diversity of farmland birds by means of high resolution (25 9 25 m) land-use scenarios. We generated scenarios in which the area of maize production in Germany increases from presently 2.6 to 2.9, 3.6 and 4.3 million ha, corresponding to the energy crop production targets of the German Renewable Energy Act for the years 2020, 2035 and 2050. To test the mitigating potential of conservation measures, each scenario was generated in a standard version and a landscape protection version, with the latter excluding valuable farmland areas from being converted into maize fields. Nine species of farmland birds belonging to the governmental indicator scheme for sustainable land-use in Germany were modelled for the six nation-wide scenarios. The models predicted that only the Northern Lapwing and the Little Owl might profit from extended maize production. Despite this, the total number of breeding pairs of the indicator species was predicted to decline by about 0.4 million breeding pairs in the most intensive scenario. Protection of valuable farmland did not mitigate these negative effects in the models. Our findings suggest that increased production of energy crops conflicts with conservation of biological diversity.

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“…1a). Among the three most abundant species depending on both habitats, two, the tree pipit and woodlark, are known as edge species that need a complement of grassy and bare soil patches for feeding and nesting as well as easy access to tall shrubs and trees used by territorial males as singing perches (‘complementation hypothesis’) (Schaefer and Vogel 2000, Burton 2007, Sirami et al 2011). These two species have been frequently associated not only to the proximity of forest edges, but also to forest clearings or grassland patches within forests (Burton 2007, Caplat and Fonderflick 2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Species traits and the response of open‐habitat species to forest edge in landscape mosaics

Fonderflick

Besnard

Martin

2012

Oikos

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Human driven changes in land‐use have increased the need to understand how landscape structure affects species distribution. We studied how forest edges affected the distribution of birds in grasslands recently encroached by forest patches. We investigated how species’ biological traits influenced their response to vegetation change near forest edges. We censured birds along 300‐m line transects run into the open habitat perpendicularly to forest edges. We recorded habitat variables and landscape context along each transect and characterized edges and forest patches. We recorded 33 bird species in 153 transects for a total of 654 individuals. We analyzed species response to edges with generalized linear mixed models. Habitat preference was prevalent to explain species response to forest edges. The abundance of open‐habitat birds such as skylark Alauda arvensis decreased significantly in the vicinity of edges. This negative response extended within 150 m from the edge. The effect was disproportionately higher in open‐habitat species with high conservation concern. The abundance of species feeding or/and breeding in both forest and open habitat, such as woodlarks Lullula arborea, sharply increased near edges (positive edge response). Abundance of shrub and non‐shrub dependent species increased with distance to edge. The two species groups did no differ in abundance/distance to edge relationship. Intensity of species response to forest edges varied among transects in relation to transect vegetation characteristics. Edge length or aspect, diet and nest height had no direct effect. We discuss the possible role of variation in resources and nest predation risk to explain observed patterns.

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WoodlarksLullula arboreaand landscape heterogeneity created by land abandonment

Cited by 18 publications

References 24 publications

Avian pest control in vineyards is driven by interactions between bird functional diversity and landscape heterogeneity

Avian pest control in vineyards is driven by interactions between bird functional diversity and landscape heterogeneity

Increased energy maize production reduces farmland bird diversity

Species traits and the response of open‐habitat species to forest edge in landscape mosaics

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