The role of agri-environment schemes and farm management practices in reversing the decline of farmland birds in England

Vickery, Juliet A.; Bradbury, Richard B.; Henderson, Ian; Eaton, Mark A.; Grice, Philip V.

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2003.06.004

Cited by 274 publications

(211 citation statements)

References 83 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

202

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…An obvious conservation response given these results would be to ensure that the habitats and resources needed by the 'atypical' species are given priority in management plans. In fact, this is already embodied in agri-environment strategy in England, where geographically targeted 'higher tier' schemes provide resources for the rarest species (Aebischer et al 2000b), while lower tier schemes deliver for the declining but still more widespread species (Vickery et al 2004b). …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brain size and resource specialization predict long-term population trends in British birds

et al. 2005

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Large-scale population declines have been documented across many faunal assemblages. However, there is much variation in population trends for individual species, and few indications of which specific ecological and behavioural characteristics are associated with such trends. We used the British Common Birds Census to identify specific traits associated with long-term abundance trends in UK farmland birds. Two factors, resource specialization and relative brain size, were significantly associated with population trend, such that species using atypical resources and with relatively small brains were most likely to have experienced overall declines. Further analyses of specific brain components indicated that the relative size of the telencephalon, the part of the brain associated with problem solving and complex behaviours, and the brain stem might be better predictors of population trend than overall brain size. These results suggest that flexibility in resource use and behaviour are the most important characteristics for determining a species' ability to cope with large-scale habitat changes.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brain size and resource specialization predict long-term population trends in British birds

et al. 2005

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Moreover, the importance of temporally explicit information has been highlighted by the discovery of population declines in what were otherwise thought to be abundant British bird species (Vickery et al 2004), and by the establishment of the 2010 biodiversity targets (Balmford et al 2005). In the Antarctic, modern conservation practice has profited taxa such as land-breeding pelagic birds (Woehler et al 2001).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial and temporal variability across life's hierarchies in the terrestrial Antarctic

Chown

Convey

2007

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

199

197

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Antarctica and its surrounding islands lie at one extreme of global variation in diversity. Typically, these regions are characterized as being species poor and having simple food webs. Here, we show that terrestrial systems in the region are nonetheless characterized by substantial spatial and temporal variations at virtually all of the levels of the genealogical and ecological hierarchies which have been thoroughly investigated. Spatial variation at the individual and population levels has been documented in a variety of genetic studies, and in mosses it appears that UV-B radiation might be responsible for within-clump mutagenesis. At the species level, modern molecular methods have revealed considerable endemism of the Antarctic biota, questioning ideas that small organisms are likely to be ubiquitous and the taxa to which they belong species poor. At the biogeographic level, much of the relatively small ice-free area of Antarctica remains unsurveyed making analyses difficult. Nonetheless, it is clear that a major biogeographic discontinuity separates the Antarctic Peninsula and continental Antarctica, here named the 'Gressitt Line'. Across the Southern Ocean islands, patterns are clearer, and energy availability is an important correlate of indigenous and exotic species richness, while human visitor numbers explain much of the variation in the latter too. Temporal variation at the individual level has much to do with phenotypic plasticity, and considerable lifehistory and physiological plasticity seems to be a characteristic of Antarctic terrestrial species. Environmental unpredictability is an important driver of this trait and has significantly influenced life histories across the region and probably throughout much of the temperate Southern Hemisphere. Rapid climate change-related alterations in the range and abundance of several Antarctic and subAntarctic populations have taken place over the past several decades. In many sub-Antarctic locations, these have been exacerbated by direct and indirect effects of invasive alien species. Interactions between climate change and invasion seem set to become one of the most significant conservation problems in the Antarctic. We conclude that despite the substantial body of work on the terrestrial biodiversity of the Antarctic, investigations of interactions between hierarchical levels remain scarce. Moreover, little of the available information is being integrated into terrestrial conservation planning, which lags far behind in this region by comparison with most others.

show abstract

“…The importance of targeting existing populations for AES to be effective was highlighted previously by Vickery et al (2004). Although we still do not know which are the predominant success factors, introducing mosaic management in these areas seems relevant in order to increase populations of Northern Lapwing.…”

Section: Conservation Perspectivementioning

confidence: 93%

Effectiveness of spatial mosaic management for grassland breeding shorebirds

Oosterveld¹,

Nijland²,

Musters

et al. 2010

J Ornithol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Since 2000, a new management technique has been introduced to stop the rapid decline of grassland breeding shorebirds in the Netherlands, called 'mosaic management'. The most important difference from earlier Agri-Environment Schemes is that the mosaic management is conducted at a landscape scale (150-650 ha) rather than an individual farm scale (50-60 ha) and that there is purposeful planning of the spatial distribution and layout of management measures within a local area. We tested the effectiveness of the mosaic management by analysing breeding population trends of Northern Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus), Black-tailed Godwit (Limosa limosa), Redshank (Tringa totanus) and Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus) in comparison with three other management types: individual management, regular farmland and nature reserves. After the introduction of mosaic management, populations of Black-tailed Godwit and Redshank stabilised and Northern Lapwing populations increased. Oystercatcher decreased, but this was also due to reduced winter survival. Populations in the mosaic management areas showed a greater annual improvement of 0-18% compared to other management types. The mosaic areas did not appear to be 'sink' areas as productivity in the mosaic areas seemed to be sufficient to support the observed densities. However, with the exception of Northern Lapwing, the change of trend was not greater in the mosaic areas than in the other management types. So, for the species other than Northern Lapwing, the good performance cannot be attributed to the mosaic management. The mosaic areas were good breeding habitats beforehand and continue to be so. It is possible that the mosaic management is part of the success, but not exclusively so. Our results show that modern farming can still be combined with grassland breeding shorebird management. However, further study of success factors is urgently needed for the conservation of the remaining good habitats on farmland and restoration of lost ones.

show abstract

The role of agri-environment schemes and farm management practices in reversing the decline of farmland birds in England

Cited by 274 publications

References 83 publications

Brain size and resource specialization predict long-term population trends in British birds

Brain size and resource specialization predict long-term population trends in British birds

Spatial and temporal variability across life's hierarchies in the terrestrial Antarctic

Effectiveness of spatial mosaic management for grassland breeding shorebirds

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About