The second Silent Spring?

Krebs, John R.; Wilson, Jeremy D.; Bradbury, Richard B.; Siriwardena, G.

doi:10.1038/23127

Cited by 738 publications

(467 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Moreover, the relative effects of abandonment, traditional management as well as modern intensive management of orchards on bird and other organism communities is poorly recognized (Tryjanowski et al 2009(Tryjanowski et al , 2011. Bird species richness and abundance in orchards may depend not only on the management of the orchard but also on the surrounding landscape composition (Krebs et al 1999;Benton et al 2003). However, there are only a few studies on the influence of orchard characteristics and their surroundings on bird communities (Agerberg 2007;Wiącek and Polak 2008;Bailey et al 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of management intensity and orchard features on bird communities in winter

Myczko

Rosin

Skórka

et al. 2013

Ecological Research

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The knowledge and conservation of diminishing valuable habitats in agricultural landscapes are of key importance in saving declining farmland biodiversity. One of these habitats is the traditional orchard whose role in supporting birds is still poorly known, especially in winter. We counted birds in 106 orchards differing in management intensity (abandoned, traditional, and intensive) during December 2009 and January 2010 in Wielkopolska, western Poland and measured site characteristics and composition of surrounding landscapes for every orchard. Old abandoned and traditionally managed orchards had significantly higher bird species richness than intensive ones. Irrespective of orchard type, bird species richness as well as density were positively influenced by the cover of unmown herb layer in orchards and tree diversity. Tree and fruit densities positively affected bird species richness and density mainly in abandoned orchards while in other orchard types the effect of these variables was less pronounced. Land cover diversity in a landscape had a positive effect on species richness and density mostly in abandoned orchards and we believe that this effect reflects the elevated utilization of such orchards by birds from the surrounding landscape. Thus, abandoned, as well as traditionally managed orchards seems to be especially important habitats that offer food source and refuge for wintering birds and should be protected. We propose to diversify fruit production by planting various tree species, leaving part of the herb layer unmown and several trees unharvested in intensive orchards in order to improve suitability of modern orchards for birds.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of management intensity and orchard features on bird communities in winter

Myczko

Rosin

Skórka

et al. 2013

Ecological Research

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“…In 48 the last few decades compelling evidence of the disastrous effects of an increasingly intensive 49 agricultural industry on biodiversity worldwide has accumulated (e.g. Pain and Pienkowski 1996; 50 Krebs et al 1999;Tilman 1999). The mechanism by which agricultural activities impinge on wildlife 51 are varied and differ according to taxa, but are primarily related to the loss of resources required for 52 food and shelter, and the effects, both direct and indirect, of chemical applications.…”

Section: Introduction 34mentioning

confidence: 99%

Mitigating the impacts of agriculture on biodiversity: bats and their potential role as bioindicators

Park

2015

Mammalian Biology

104

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1Agriculture is a dominant land use worldwide with approximately 40% of the land's surface used for 2 farming. In many countries, particularly parts of Europe, this figure is substantially higher and most 3 agricultural land is under intensive practices aimed at maximising the production of food. The 4 intensification and expansion of modern agricultural practices led to the biological simplification of 5 the farmed environment, which has resulted in declines in farmland biodiversity during the last 6 century. As with other taxa, many bat species have suffered severe population declines during the 7 20th century, with agriculture believed to be one of the main drivers reducing roost availability and 8 foraging habitat. Lower intensity farming methods, and the creation or management of habitat features 9 on farmland could potentially mitigate some of these negative impacts but the effects of this on bats, 10 in comparison to other taxa, have received relatively little attention. Here, I review evidence on the 11 impacts of efforts to increase biodiversity in agricultural landscapes on bat populations, and explore 12 whether responses of bats to agricultural activities are similar to those of other taxa, a necessary 13 requirement if they are to be used as bioindicator species. 14 The review revealed that there are relatively few studies with which to assess the effects of 15 management interventions on bats in agricultural landscapes, and these are restricted to only a few 16 countries. Nevertheless, there is evidence that bats benefit from lower intensity agricultural systems, 17 specifically organic farming and shaded agroforestry: these systems tend to be associated with higher 18 bat abundance, species richness and diversity, and are more heavily utilised by foraging bats. Whilst 19very few studies have explicitly tested the utility of bats as bioindicators in agricultural landscapes, 20 overall, the response of bats to lower intensity agricultural systems also reflect responses by other 21 taxa. These studies have been largely restricted to temperate regions, however. The review highlights 22 several major gaps in our knowledge of bats in agricultural landscapes and where future research 23 could be usefully directed including: 1) a broader geographical range of studies examining both the 24 efficacy, and the underlying mechanisms through which lower intensity agricultural systems may 25 benefit bats; 2) the potential for lower intensity systems in key crops such as oil-palm; 3) studies of 26 the demographic effects of conservation management on bats; 4) in order to assess the potential of 27 bats as bioindicators, studies quantifying the response of both bats and other taxa to environmental 28 change in a wider range of biomes and regions are needed. 29 30 31

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“…The decline in farmland biodiversity over the last 50 years in Europe and North America has been widely attributed to the intensification of agriculture (Krebs et al, 1999;Robinson and Sutherland, 2002;Green et al, 2005). This decline has been addressed by encouraging farmers and landowners to adopt agri-environment schemes (AES), through which they are subsidised to implement less intensive practices.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of agri-environment schemes in a long-term ecological time series

Taylor

Morecroft

2009

Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment

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We investigated the impact of agri-environment schemes, including organic farming, on contrasting taxa, when the management of a Southern English farm was changed in the middle of a 12 year time series for an ecosystem monitoring programme. Plant species richness, including butterfly larval food plants, increased, whilst grassland productivity decreased. There was no overall difference in butterfly or carabid beetle abundance or species richness after the management changes, but some individual species increased significantly. Moth abundance and species richness significantly increased following changes in management. There were significant longer term increases in butterfly and carabid populations from when monitoring started in 1994, which continued through the change in management. This contrasted with national trends over the same period. Warmer summers generally increased invertebrate abundance, but there was no significant trend in weather variables for the years following the change in management. This study corroborates results from short term comparison of contrasting farms and demonstrates measurable benefits to biodiversity from the implementation of agri-environment schemes, which continue to increase over at least five years.

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The second Silent Spring?

Cited by 738 publications

References 4 publications

Effects of management intensity and orchard features on bird communities in winter

Effects of management intensity and orchard features on bird communities in winter

Mitigating the impacts of agriculture on biodiversity: bats and their potential role as bioindicators

Effects of agri-environment schemes in a long-term ecological time series

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