Factors influencing the success of within-field AES fallow plots as key sites for the Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus in an industrialised agricultural landscape of Central Europe

Schmidt, Jan-Uwe; Eilers, Alexander; Schimkat, Madlen; Krause-Heiber, Jonas; Timm, Andreas; Siegel, Stefan; Nachtigall, Winfried; Kleber, Arno

doi:10.1016/j.jnc.2016.12.001

Cited by 11 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…These species may profit from the extra food supplied during summer and autumn but have alternative foraging options elsewhere when rotational fallows are no longer available. Waders such as lapwing and steppe birds such as stone curlew or little bustard, as well as skylarks, may benefit from a decreased vegetation height and cover of rotational fallows in spring, offering nesting habitat and accessible food when neighboring crops are dense and tall (Field et al., 2010; MacDonald et al., 2012; Schmidt et al., 2017a; Sanz‐Pérez et al., 2019). Where the latter groups are targets of local conservation programs, rotational fallow fields may thus represent a preferred AES over the otherwise superior long‐term fallows.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long‐term fallows rate best among agri‐environment scheme effects on farmland birds—A meta‐analysis

Staggenborg¹,

Anthes

2022

CONSERVATION LETTERS

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Agri-environment schemes (AES) serve to counteract the ongoing decline of farmland bird populations, but their success remains controversial. We conducted a meta-analysis to compare standardized effect size estimates among European AES options-classified into 15 categories that capture relevant management practices-for farmland bird abundance and species richness. Effect strengths varied substantially between AES categories. Long-term fallows, nonproductive crops such as wild bird seed mixtures, artificial food supply, and winter cover yielded the strongest positive associations with farmland bird abundance. Average effect sizes were larger but also more variable in cropland compared to grassland-dominated farming systems. This observation highlights the need to develop more effective conservation schemes for grassland inhabitants, which face similarly severe population declines as cropland inhabitants. Schemes that provided large ecological contrasts between treatment and control sites yielded particularly strong relative benefits, but AES-specific effect sizes further varied with foraging and nesting site guilds of the target species. Our study confirms that the AES that is currently implemented can benefit farmland birds. However, clear improvements require AES to focus on options with maximal improvements in habitat quality and to locally implement sufficiently diverse AES options to serve the often-incongruent needs of several bird guilds and species. K E Y W O R D Sagri-environment (climate) schemes, ecological contrast, fallow, farming intensity, farming system, farmland bird conservation, habitat quality, organic management INTRODUCTIONAbout 39% of the European landmass is under agricultural management (Cook, 2020), which thus plays a key role in determining landscape structure and biodiversity.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long‐term fallows rate best among agri‐environment scheme effects on farmland birds—A meta‐analysis

Staggenborg¹,

Anthes

2022

CONSERVATION LETTERS

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“…S7B). Lapwings and great egrets Ardea alba L. also forage in areas containing shallow pools of water (Fidorra et al ., 2016; Schmidt et al ., 2017). Yellowhammers and sparrows have been observed to use puddles for bathing.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Small things are important: the value of singular point elements for birds in agricultural landscapes

et al. 2021

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Farmland birds belong to the most endangered group of vertebrates in Europe. They are an important component of farmland biodiversity considering the numerous functions they perform (e.g. seed dispersal, improving germination, increasing gene flow, nutrient recycling, and pest control). Therefore, their decline imposes substantial risks on agricultural ecosystems. In general, farmland bird conservation includes land‐use and management alterations leading to less‐intensive farming and land‐sparing for breeding habitats (e.g. agri‐environment‐climate schemes, and organic farming). However, theoretical concepts describing farmland biodiversity maintenance and applied conservation measures usually ignore the role of singular, often very small, natural or man‐made elements in an agricultural landscape. These elements play a role in the populations of certain species, their biology and in the general species richness of farmland. Furthermore, the importance of these elements has never been empirically tested, which means that conservationists and practitioners are not aware of their measurable value for birds. Herein, we define and identify singular point elements in the agricultural landscape (SPELs) which are potentially important for breeding farmland birds. We also describe each SPEL and evaluate its importance for birds in farmland based on a systematic review of the available literature. Using a horizon‐scanning technique, we then polled field ornithologists about their personal observations of birds in relation to SPELs and the evaluation of the potential roles of such structures for birds. We identified 17 SPELs that vary in naturalness and age: singular trees, singular shrubs, erratic boulders, puddles, electricity pylons, wind turbines, spiritual sites, hunting platforms, fence and border posts, wells, road signs, scarecrows, piles of manure, piles of brushwood/branches, piles of stones/debris, piles of lime, and haystacks. Analysis of the literature revealed knowledge gaps, because some SPELs are frequently mentioned in ecological studies (e.g. trees, shrubs, pylons), but others such as spiritual sites, stones, hunting platforms, wells, road signs, or piles of lime are ignored. Despite the fact that some authors incorporate the effects of some SPELs in their studies, little research to date has aimed to assess the impact of various SPELs on farmland bird species numbers and distribution. Horizon scanning revealed that ornithologists often observe birds on various SPELs and thus, attribute to SPELs many functions that are important for maintaining bird populations. Horizon scanning also highlighted the importance of SPELs for many declining bird species and suggested possible mitigation of negative changes in the agricultural landscape by retaining SPELs within fields. We suggest that a better understanding of the role of SPELs for farmland birds is required. We also recommend that SPELs are considered as a potential tool for the conservation of birds, and existing conservation programs such as agri‐...

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“…Because predator controls are rarely effective, agri‐environment schemes (AES) as land management and agricultural practices appear to have high potential impact on productivity of lapwing and likely other wader species living in similar habitats (Breeuwer et al , ; Roodbergen & Teunissen, ). In arable land, ‘lapwing plots’ (fallow plots within a field, see Sheldon, Chaney & Tyler, ; Schmidt et al , ) could enhance breeding conditions for lapwings. The implementation of effective AES will be essential for enhancing the reproductive success of lapwings and therefore for a population recovery.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low productivity and unsuitable management drive the decline of central European lapwing populations

Plard

Bruns²,

Cimiotti³

et al. 2019

Animal Conservation

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Despite the protective measures that have been implemented to increase the productivity of meadow birds, populations are still declining in most breeding and wintering areas. We therefore still do not know how large the protective efforts need to be to curb the decline of the meadow bird populations. By taking advantage of monitoring data from the populations of lapwings in the Netherlands (NL) and one region in Germany [Schleswig‐Holstein (SH)], we investigated the demographic drivers responsible for the decline of the populations and evaluated the impact of protective measures. In these populations, some nests are marked with sticks such that they are not destroyed by farming activity. We analyzed the data with integrated population models and show that average demographic rates were similar in the two populations. Retrospective analyses demonstrated that variation in productivity most strongly impacted population dynamics and that its variation was influenced by the local environments. Our results confirmed that low productivity (0.55 and 0.46 fledglings per pairs in SH and NL, respectively) was the main reason for the decline of the lapwing populations. Productivity of 0.76 (SH) and 0.91 (NL) fledglings per pairs would be required to stabilize the populations. The implemented nest protection had a positive effect on nest success, but did not improve chick survival, and consequently the effect on population growth rates remained insufficient. The population growth rate in NL would increase by only 2% if all nests were protected. Our results suggest that protective measures should prioritize the reduction in predation and the improvement of chick habitat by promoting heterogeneous swards combining tall vegetation for hiding and short and open vegetation for foraging.

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Factors influencing the success of within-field AES fallow plots as key sites for the Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus in an industrialised agricultural landscape of Central Europe

Cited by 11 publications

References 31 publications

Long‐term fallows rate best among agri‐environment scheme effects on farmland birds—A meta‐analysis

Long‐term fallows rate best among agri‐environment scheme effects on farmland birds—A meta‐analysis

Small things are important: the value of singular point elements for birds in agricultural landscapes

Low productivity and unsuitable management drive the decline of central European lapwing populations

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