Predator management for breeding waders: a review of current evidence and priority knowledge gaps

Laidlaw, Rebecca A.; Ewing, Harry; Franks, Samantha E.; Belting, Heinrich; Donaldson, Lynda; Hilton, Geoff M.; Hiscock, Nicola; Hoodless, Andrew N.; Hughes, Baz; Jarrett, Nigel; Kentie, Rosemarie; Kleyheeg, Erik; Lee, Rebecca; Roodbergen, Maja; Scott, Dawn M.; Short, Michael; Syroeschkovskiy, Evgeny; Teunissen, Wolf; Ward, Hannah; White, Graham; Gill, Jennifer A.

doi:10.18194/ws.00220

Cited by 21 publications

(20 citation statements)

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“…Different strategies have been proposed to reduce predation pressure (Doherty & Ritchie, 2017; Laidlaw et al, 2021; Roos et al, 2018). Lethal predator control is the most widespread intervention (Ewald et al, 2012; Reynolds et al, 2010; Tapper et al, 1996; White et al, 2014), but several studies suggest that predator control is difficult to implement effectively at the landscape level and often presents ethical problems (Rushton et al, 2006; Bolton et al, 2007; Lieury et al, 2015; Doherty & Ritchie, 2017; Kämmerle, Niekrenz, et al, 2019; Kämmerle, Ritchie, et al, 2019; Laidlaw et al, 2021). Habitat management may offer an alternative approach (Laidlaw et al, 2015, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Habitat management may offer an alternative approach (Laidlaw et al, 2015(Laidlaw et al, , 2017. If we understand how predators use the landscape and where their activity, and thus the predation risk, is highest, we may be able to manage the landscape in a way that improves habitat quality and minimizes predation risk (Doherty & Ritchie, 2017;Evans, 2004;Laidlaw et al, 2021;Langgemach & Bellebaum, 2005;Roos et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Camera trap data suggest uneven predation risk across vegetation types in a mixed farmland landscape

Laux

Waltert

Gottschalk

2022

Ecology and Evolution

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Camera trap data suggest uneven predation risk across vegetation types in a mixed farmland landscape

Laux

Waltert

Gottschalk

2022

Ecology and Evolution

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“…Predation on nests and chicks is an example of links between the dynamics of ecological and social systems (Laidlaw et al, 2021 ; Manton & Angelstam, 2021 ). Comparing five of the wet grassland landscapes in this study Manton et al ( 2019 ) found that corvid bird abundance, and availability of their resources, increased with increasing agricultural land‐use intensity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Barriers and bridges for sustaining functional habitat networks: A macroecological system analysis of wet grassland landscapes

Angelstam

Manton

Stjernquist

et al. 2022

Ecology and Evolution

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This study aims at supporting the maintenance of representative functional habitat networks as green infrastructure for biodiversity conservation through transdisciplinary macroecological analyses of wet grassland landscapes and their stewardship systems. We chose ten north European wet grassland case study landscapes from Iceland and the Netherlands in the west to Lithuania and Belarus in the east. We combine expert experiences for 20–30 years, comparative studies made 2011–2017, and longitudinal analyses spanning >70 years. Wader, or shorebird, ( Charadrii ) assemblages were chosen as a focal species group. We used evidence‐based knowledge and practical experience generated in three steps. (1) Experts from 8 wet grassland landscapes in northern Europe's west and east mapped factors linked to patterns and processes, and management and governance, in social‐ecological systems that affect states and trends of wet grasslands as green infrastructures for wader birds. (2) To understand wader conservation problems and their dynamic in wet grassland landscapes, and to identify key issues for successful conservation, we applied group modeling using causal loop diagram mapping. (3) Validation was made using the historic development in two additional wet grassland landscapes. Wader conservation was dependent on ten dynamically interacting ecological and social system factors as leverage points for management. Re‐wetting and grazing were common drivers for the ecological and social system, and long‐term economic support for securing farmers’ interest in wader bird conservation. Financial public incentives at higher levels of governance of wetland management are needed to stimulate private income loops. Systems analysis based on contrasting landscape case studies in space and over time can support (1) understanding of complex interactions in social‐ecological systems, (2) collaborative learning in individual wet grassland landscapes, and (3) formulation of priorities for conservation, management, and restoration.

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“…Our study thus joins a number of other recent efforts that call into question whether increasing the allocation of nitrogen to agricultural grasslands increases either the availability of food or the quality of those habitats for meadowbirds (Onrust, Hobma et al., 2019; Onrust, Wymenga et al., 2019). Future efforts aimed at halting the declines of godwits and other meadowbirds should instead focus on proven methods, such as controlling the populations of generalist predators (Laidlaw et al., 2021) and restoring water levels in order to slow vegetation phenology, improve soil penetrability, and promote above‐ground invertebrate diversity and abundance (Kleijn et al., 2009b; Onrust, Wymenga et al., 2019; Schekkerman & Beintema, 2007; Verhulst et al., 2007).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Earthworm abundance and availability does not influence the reproductive decisions of black‐tailed godwits in an agricultural grassland

Verhoeven

McBride

Hooijmeijer

et al. 2022

Ecol Sol and Evidence

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Maintaining the biodiversity of agricultural ecosystems has become a global imperative. Across Europe, species that occupy agricultural grasslands, such as black‐tailed godwits (Limosa limosa limosa), have undergone steep population declines. In this context, there is a significant need to both determine the root causes of these declines and identify actions that will promote biodiversity while supporting the livelihoods of farmers. Food availability, and specifically earthworm abundance (Lumbricidae), during the pre‐breeding period has often been suggested as a potential driver of godwit population declines. Previous studies have recommended increasing the application of nitrogen to agricultural grasslands to enhance earthworm populations and aid agricultural production. Here we test whether food availability during the pre‐breeding period affects when and where godwits breed. Using large‐scale surveys of food availability, a long‐term mark‐recapture study, focal observations of foraging female godwits, and tracking devices that monitored godwit movements, we found little evidence of a relationship between earthworm abundance and the timing of godwit reproductive efforts or the density of breeding godwits. Furthermore, we found that the soils of intensively managed agricultural grasslands may frequently be too dry for godwits to forage for those earthworms that are present. The increased application of nitrogen to agricultural grasslands will therefore likely have no positive effect on godwit populations. Instead, management efforts should focus on increasing the botanical diversity of agricultural grasslands, facilitating conditions that prevent hardening soils, and reducing the populations of generalist predators.

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Predator management for breeding waders: a review of current evidence and priority knowledge gaps

Cited by 21 publications

References 0 publications

Camera trap data suggest uneven predation risk across vegetation types in a mixed farmland landscape

Camera trap data suggest uneven predation risk across vegetation types in a mixed farmland landscape

Barriers and bridges for sustaining functional habitat networks: A macroecological system analysis of wet grassland landscapes

Earthworm abundance and availability does not influence the reproductive decisions of black‐tailed godwits in an agricultural grassland

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