Changing land management of lowland wet grasslands of the UK: impacts on snipe abundance and habitat quality

Abstract

Snipe Gallinago gallinago breeding on lowland wet grasslands in England have undergone widespread and dramatic declines in abundance and distribution since at least the 1970s. There are many potential drivers of the decline but reductions in habitat quality, driven by land management, are often proposed as a contributing factor in the historical declines of breeding waders. Breeding snipe are now restricted to a few key places such as nature reserves and environmentally sensitive areas where management for breeding waders is implemented. On average, populations have continued to decline, even in these key areas, though population trends vary from a decline of 98% to an increase of 61% between the early 1990s and 2006. We examined the relationship between regional variation in snipe population trends and soil conditions, other habitat features and land management. Snipe were more likely to persist in fields where the soil conditions were wet and soft. Fields are wetter and softer now than in the early 1990s and management influenced these conditions. Soil softness increased with decreasing grazing pressure and increasing surface flooding. Soil moisture increased with surface flooding and was higher in organic soils. Changes in field condition were consistent with decreases in grazing pressure and increases in surface flooding. In spite of habitat condition being altered in a way that should have been beneficial to snipe, the numbers have continued to decline. Thus, it is unlikely that the measures of habitat condition examined here have been the driver of the decline and other factors must be involved. Research efforts should now focus on alternative explanations of the decline, for example, changes in other key aspects of habitat quality such as prey abundance, or changes in snipe productivity or mortality.

Exploring the relationships between wader declines and current land‐use in the British uplands

“…For two other wader species, European Golden Plovers Pluvialis apricaria and Common Snipe Gallinago gallinago (hereafter Snipe), population changes varied between study areas, with >50% declines in some areas, but increases of the same extent found elsewhere. Some of these wader species have also shown marked declines across a range of UK habitats, with large declines recorded for Snipe in the lowlands (Smart et al 2008), and the national breeding bird surveys (BBS) recording declines of 18% for Lapwings and 36% for Curlews between 1994 and 2007 (Risely et al 2008). The causes of these declines in upland wader abundance are not known.…”

Impacts of species-led conservation on ecosystem services of wetlands: understanding co-benefits and tradeoffs

“…The suite of breeding waders comprises Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus, Common Redshank Tringa totanus and Common Snipe Gallinago gallinago. These species are conservation priorities as a consequence of severe population declines of breeding waders in the UK, principally resulting from agricultural intensification and drainage of wet grassland (Smart et al 2006(Smart et al , 2008Eglington et al 2009). The very low numbers of Great Bitterns are a result of changes in the extent and condition of reedbeds (Tyler et al 1998;Wilson et al 2005).…”

Can ecosystem services be integrated with conservation? A case study of breeding waders on grassland

“…Recent work has shown that Snipe breeding populations are more likely to have persisted in fields where the soil conditions are wet and soft (Fig. 2; Smart et al. 2008).…”

“…2001, Ausden & Hirons 2002, Wilson et al. 2004) with declines more marked on mineral soils and in the south and east of England (Smart et al. 2008).…”