How to improve agri-environment schemes to achieve meadow bird conservation in Europe? A case study in the Saône valley, France

Broyer, Joël; Curtet, Laurence; Chazal, Romain

doi:10.1007/s10336-013-0996-6

Cited by 15 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…This considered, agri‐environmental schemes specifically thought to halt the decline of grassland birds and to maintain grassland surface resulted in mixed effects (Broyer, Curtet, & Chazal, ); thus complementary strategies are desirable to address this conservation issue from a different perspective. In the U.S.A., sustainable market‐based conservation models were suggested as the best opportunity to conserve grassland bird populations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward the next Common Agricultural Policy reform: Determinants of avian communities in hay meadows reveal current policy's inadequacy for biodiversity conservation in grassland ecosystems

Assandri

Bogliani

Pedrini

et al. 2019

Journal of Applied Ecology

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1. Semi-natural grasslands are among the richest European ecosystems in terms of biodiversity. However, they have been severely affected by farming intensification and land abandonment, which have been both exacerbated by the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The most recent CAP included a "greening" measure dedicated to grassland conservation, presumed to be beneficial to biodiversity; however, scientific evidence about its effectiveness is still scarce.2. In the Alps, hay meadows have undergone dramatic management changes in recent decades. We used a comprehensive community ecology approach to highlight how the multi-scale and interacting effects of such changes impact birds, with the aim of providing knowledge to support improvements to the CAP. 3. Birds were surveyed at 63 landscape units in northeast Italy, equally subdivided into areas dominated by (a) extensive hay meadows, (b) intensive hay meadows, and (c) areas formerly dominated by meadows but partially converted into other agricultural land use. This environmental gradient mirrors in space the temporal gradient of the agricultural changes that have recently occurred in the Alps.4. Community composition, species richness, and the number of meadow-specialist species were analysed according to environmental predictors (i.e. landscape, meadow management, and topography), and to spatial factors. We aimed to disentangle the exclusive and joint fraction of variation explained by each of them. Meadow conversion, allowed by the CAP in force, created a shift in communitycomposition towards assemblages dominated by generalist species at the expense of meadow specialists. The cover of intensive meadows was negatively correlated with species richness, whereas the number of meadow specialists was negatively correlated with the cover of early-mown (i.e. within the third week of June) meadows. Mowing date was, in turn, related to elevation, with meadows at higher elevations mown later in the season, and to meadow intensification (the use of external inputs, in particular liquid manure, leads to earlier and more frequent cuts per year). | 605Journal of Applied Ecology ASSANDRI et Al.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward the next Common Agricultural Policy reform: Determinants of avian communities in hay meadows reveal current policy's inadequacy for biodiversity conservation in grassland ecosystems

Assandri

Bogliani

Pedrini

et al. 2019

Journal of Applied Ecology

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“…Since nest destruction by farming practices is one of the main causes of the Curlew's decline (Berg 1992a, Valkama & Currie 1999, Brown 2015, postponing grass or crop harvesting represents a good management measure. In France, postponing grass harvesting to either 1 or 15 July increased significantly the number of breeding Curlews over the years (Broyer et al 2014). In addition, a phenological mismatch exists between the nesting time of Curlews and the sowing time of farmers, which exposes nests to destruction (Santangeli et al 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Population decline of the Eurasian Curlew in Akershus (southeastern Norway)

Monthouel¹,

Dale²

2019

Ornis Norv.

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The Eurasian Curlew (Numenius arquata) is a species in decline, classified as near threatened (NT) worldwide, and vulnerable (VU) in Norway. In Akershus county, southeastern Norway, the population of breeding Eurasian Curlews was estimated at 50-60 pairs in 1982. No recent update exists of this population size estimate. In this study, we assessed the population size in 2017 in Akershus, and examined how the population size changed between 1971 and 2017 by using historical observation records of Eurasian Curlews. We estimated that there were 30 territories in Akershus in 2017 and found that the population declined by 47% since 1995 and 77% since 1971. In the period 1995-2017, the yearly rate of decline was 2.8%. We discuss possible reasons for the decline, such as intensive agricultural practices, high nest predation rates, and large-scale threats on the wintering grounds.

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“…Secondly, expanding conservation interventions to the wider environment is expensive, and AECM budgets are often insufficient to cover areas beyond the Natura 2000 network, or other targeted areas. As a result more funding and targeting of schemes to species and habitats is required to increase the scale and effectiveness of agri-environment schemes sufficiently to achieve landscape and population level improvements (Arponen et al, 2013;Broyer, Curtet and Chazal, 2014 Poláková et al, 2011;Whittingham, 2007).This problem is greatly exacerbated where agricultural development programmes are taking place (such as irrigation schemes), sometimes supported by EU funds, that provide opportunities for landowners to adopt more intensive systems that substantially increase the profitability of their farms. Evidence from case studies in the Drivers of Success study, and numerous other LIFE projects (Brauner, Korbetis and Latruberce, 2017) shows that, where financial incentives are seen as low, AECM schemes are often not taken up, no matter how good the relations with the farming community.…”

Section: The Contribution Of Each Cap Instrument/measure To Bhd Habitats and Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does the proposed CAP reform allow for a paradigm shift towards a greener policy?

Rac

Erjavec

2020

Span. j. agric. res.

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Aim of study: The paper explores whether the legislative proposal for the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) after 2021 and the novelty of comprehensive strategic planning at Member State (MS) level can bring about a greener, more multifunctional policy paradigm. While existing research has explored long-term policy change over the entire decision-making process, this study aims to demonstrate the usefulness of conducting policy analysis at the inception of the legislative procedure.Area of study: The study applies to the European Union.Material and methods: The research employs a qualitative method of policy analysis, using a combination of three theoretical frameworks – social learning, path dependency and intergovernmentalism. Extensive document analysis and in-depth interviews were applied to evaluate the proposed reform and gauge the responses of key interest groups.Main results: The proposal holds potential for a substantial overall greening of the policy but will be strongly dependent on implementation at the MS level; the institutional framework provides space for increased environmental ambition, but does not guarantee it, as the proposed safeguards are too weak.Research highlights: More accountability is required during the formulation and implementation of Strategic Plans. Due to strong elements of path dependency and intergovernmentalism, an overall paradigm shift at EU level is unlikely. Strengthening the role of MSs is weakening the commonality of the policy that guarantees at least minimal environmental standards.

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How to improve agri-environment schemes to achieve meadow bird conservation in Europe? A case study in the Saône valley, France

Cited by 15 publications

References 21 publications

Toward the next Common Agricultural Policy reform: Determinants of avian communities in hay meadows reveal current policy's inadequacy for biodiversity conservation in grassland ecosystems

Toward the next Common Agricultural Policy reform: Determinants of avian communities in hay meadows reveal current policy's inadequacy for biodiversity conservation in grassland ecosystems

Population decline of the Eurasian Curlew in Akershus (southeastern Norway)

Does the proposed CAP reform allow for a paradigm shift towards a greener policy?

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