The importance of residual habitats and crop management for the conservation of birds breeding in intensive orchards

Abstract

Intensive orchards are artificial habitats managed according to production criteria, but they may mimic open woodlands and harbour wild species. We investigated the effect of orchard features on the true abundance (estimated with occupancy models) of some bird species widespread in orchards. Our study was carried out in Val di Non (Trento province, Italy) where apple cultivation is the most widespread and intensive. We counted blackcaps Sylvia atricapilla, chaffinches Fringilla coelebs, and greenfinches Carduelis chloris three times at 44 transects 300-m long. At each transect, we estimated the number of territories/pairs and recorded variables describing the cover of the habitats and management factors. Blackcap abundance was positively affected by the cover of shrubland and broadleaved woodland and by a low cover of coniferous forests. Chaffinch abundance was driven by a negative impact of anti-hail nets and secondarily by bare ground and urbanized areas, with chaffinches more abundant in areas with grassland ground cover and 5-10 % cover of urban habitats. Greenfinch abundance increased with wetland cover, cover of other natural/semi-natural habitats and tree height and decreased with grassland cover. Both the availability of natural and semi-natural vegetation and the orchard traits determined by management can significantly affect the abundance of common species. The conservation of the remaining patches of woodland, shrubland, wetland (and other natural/semi-natural habitats) is essential for bird conservation. The already reported negative impact of anti-hail nets and the importance of the height of apple trees are confirmed; irrigation systems and bare ground may also be important factors.

Temporal and Spatial Scales Matter: Circannual Habitat Selection by Bird Communities in Vineyards

“…Despite the fact that our landscape scale analysis relies on only 10 transects while groves were scarce in the matrix (0–11%), these woody structures positively influenced overall bird and thrush abundances, species richness and diversity especially during the winter season. The general preference for grove corroborates earlier findings in a variety of agroecosystems that hedges provide foraging, nesting and sheltering opportunities, as well as song posts for the avifauna [ 1 , 71 – 74 ]. The stronger positive effect of grove in winter might be related to the dominance of forest species which forage in open habitat but rely on woody patches offering sheltering opportunities.…”

“…While these results originate from only 10 transects and a single region in Switzerland, we are confident that the importance of natural structures and ground vegetation as well as the seasonal variability in habitat selection patterns can be generalized to at least vineyards from other regions [ 43 , 50 – 53 ] and potentially to other perennial crops such as orchards (e.g. [ 6 , 11 , 71 ]), if not even to other agroecosystems (e.g. [ 13 , 15 , 24 , 32 , 34 , 72 ]).…”

“…Thus, in addition to its intrinsic value for human recreation, the promotion of woody structures and grassy ground cover within and adjacent to vineyard parcels paves the way towards a more sustainable grape and wine industry. Similar issues and solutions might be valid for other agroecosystems, especially for other perennial crops such as orchards [ 6 , 71 , 85 , 86 ].…”

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

“…Results showed that meadow conversion caused a shift in the community composition towards assemblages dominated by generalist species, especially Turdidae and Fringilladae, which are known to adapt to intensive permanent monocultures (i.e. apple orchards and vineyards; Assandri et al., ; Brambilla, Assandri, Martino, Bogliani, & Pedrini, ), which usually replace semi‐natural grassland in the Alps. These changes occurred at the expense of the meadow specialists, which disappear with the increase in these crops.…”

Single-row exclusion nets: an alternative pest control method with no detectable impact on breeding bird assemblages in orchards bordered by hedgerows

“…In this regard, the compatibility of bird conservation with agricultural land use is traditionally questioned (Balmford et al 2012), and birds constitute relevant bio-indicators of the environmental impact of agricultural practices (Furness and Greewood, 1983;Morelli et al 2014;Ormerod and Watkinson 2000). Therefore, identifying the drivers of bird species abundance in farmed landscapes is critical for assessing the bird population's response to human-driven changes in their habitats and counteracting adverse effects of agricultural practices on wildlife (Balmford et al 2012;Brambilla et al 2015).…”