TY - JOUR
T1 - Landscape composition influences farm management effects on farmland birds in winter
T2 - A pan-European approach
AU - Geiger, Flavia
AU - de Snoo, Geert R.
AU - Berendse, Frank
AU - Guerrero, Irene
AU - Morales, Manuel B.
AU - Oñate, Juan J.
AU - Eggers, Sönke
AU - Pärt, Tomas
AU - Bommarco, Riccardo
AU - Bengtsson, Jan
AU - Clement, Lars W.
AU - Weisser, Wolfgang W.
AU - Olszewski, Adam
AU - Ceryngier, Piotr
AU - Hawro, Violetta
AU - Inchausti, Pablo
AU - Fischer, Christina
AU - Flohre, Andreas
AU - Thies, Carsten
AU - Tscharntke, Teja
N1 - Funding Information:
We are grateful to all ornithologists who conducted the bird surveys. This study is part of the EuroDiversity Agripopes research programme funded by the European Science Foundation and affiliated national science foundations (Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Spanish Ministry of Science and Education, German Federal Ministry of Education and Science BMBF, German Research Foundation, Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, Swedish Research Council, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Département Ecologie et Dévéloppement Durable) .
PY - 2010/12/15
Y1 - 2010/12/15
N2 - This study examined the effects of agricultural intensity, various farming practices, landscape composition and vegetation cover on the abundance and species richness of wintering farmland birds, assessed simultaneously across seven European regions. The abundance and species richness of wintering farmland birds were negatively affected by agricultural intensity. The effects of yield and farm type were interlinked. Of the 10 farming practices assessed, mechanical weeding and the amount of organic fertilizer applied negatively affected farmland birds, presumably due to reduced food availability on arable fields. Positive effects of organic farming on farmland birds proved to be limited to simplified landscapes. More farmland birds were observed in areas with more stubble, pasture and green manure crops. Species richness was higher in areas with more pasture. The results of this study show that farm management, vegetation cover and landscape composition all influence wintering farmland birds. Heterogeneous landscapes comprising arable crops as well as grasslands support most species of farmland birds in winter. The effectiveness of organic farming and agri-environment schemes depends on landscape composition. Therefore, different agri-environment schemes should be designed for different landscape types.
AB - This study examined the effects of agricultural intensity, various farming practices, landscape composition and vegetation cover on the abundance and species richness of wintering farmland birds, assessed simultaneously across seven European regions. The abundance and species richness of wintering farmland birds were negatively affected by agricultural intensity. The effects of yield and farm type were interlinked. Of the 10 farming practices assessed, mechanical weeding and the amount of organic fertilizer applied negatively affected farmland birds, presumably due to reduced food availability on arable fields. Positive effects of organic farming on farmland birds proved to be limited to simplified landscapes. More farmland birds were observed in areas with more stubble, pasture and green manure crops. Species richness was higher in areas with more pasture. The results of this study show that farm management, vegetation cover and landscape composition all influence wintering farmland birds. Heterogeneous landscapes comprising arable crops as well as grasslands support most species of farmland birds in winter. The effectiveness of organic farming and agri-environment schemes depends on landscape composition. Therefore, different agri-environment schemes should be designed for different landscape types.
KW - Agri-environment scheme
KW - Agricultural intensification
KW - Arable
KW - Farming practice
KW - Organic farming
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=78650735270&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.agee.2010.09.018
DO - 10.1016/j.agee.2010.09.018
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:78650735270
SN - 0167-8809
VL - 139
SP - 571
EP - 577
JO - Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment
JF - Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment
IS - 4
ER -
