Landscape composition influences farm management effects on farmland birds in winter: A pan-European approach

F. Geiger^1*, G. R. de Snooa², F. Berendse¹, I. Guerrero³, M. B. Morales³, J. J. Oñate³, S. Eggers⁴, T. Pärt⁴, R. Bommarco⁴, J. Bengtsson⁴, L. W. Clement⁵, W. W. Weisser⁵, A. Olszewski⁶, P. Ceryngier⁷, V. Hawro⁷, P. Inchausti⁸, C. Fischer⁹, A. Flohre⁹, C. Thies⁹ and T. Tscharntke⁹

Abstract
This study examined the effects of agricultural intensity, various farming practices, landscape composition and vegetation cover on the abundance and species richness of wintering farmland birds, assessed simultaneously across seven European regions.

The abundance and species richness of wintering farmland birds were negatively affected by agricultural intensity. The effects of yield and farm type were interlinked. Of the 10 farming practices assessed, mechanical weeding and the amount of organic fertilizer applied negatively affected farmland birds, presumably due to reduced food availability on arable fields. Positive effects of organic farming on farmland birds proved to be limited to simplified landscapes. More farmland birds were observed in areas with more stubble, pasture and green manure crops. Species richness was higher in areas with more pasture.

The results of this study show that farm management, vegetation cover and landscape composition all influence wintering farmland birds. Heterogeneous landscapes comprising arable crops as well as grasslands support most species of farmland birds in winter. The effectiveness of organic farming and agri-environment schemes depends on landscape composition. Therefore, different agri-environment schemes should be designed for different landscape types.


Source
Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment (2010) 139: 571-577
DOI: 10.1016/j.agee.2010.09.018


Author Locations and Affiliations
(1) Nature Conservation and Plant Ecology Group, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands
(2) Conservation Biology, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9518, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
(3) Department of Ecology, c/ Darwin, 2, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria de Cantoblanco, Madrid 28049, Spain
(4) Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7044, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden
(5) Institute of Ecology, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Dornburger Str. 159, 07743 Jena, Germany
(6) Kampinos National Park, Tetmajera 38, 05-080 Izabelin, Poland
(7) Centre for Ecological Research, Polish Academy of Sciences, Dziekanow Lesny, Konopnickiej 1, 05-092 Lomianki, Poland
(8) Centre for Biological Studies of Chizé CNRS, Villiers-en-Bois, France
(9) Agroecology, Department of Crop Science, Georg-August-University, Waldweg 26, 37073 Göttingen, Germany
* Corresponding author, E-mail flavia.geiger@wur.nl


Posted January 2011