Effects of crop diversification and low pesticide inputs on bird populations on arable land |
| |
| Authors: | Ian G. Henderson Neil Ravenscroft Gail Smith Stephen Holloway |
| |
| Affiliation: | 1. British Trust for Ornithology, The Nunnery, Nunnery Place, Thetford, Norfolk IP24 2PU, UK;2. Wildside Ecology, 4 Kingshill, Earl Soham, Suffolk IP1 7RY, UK;3. Unilever R&D, Colworth House, Sharnbrook, Bedford MK44 1LQ, UK;1. Department of Environmental Solution Technology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Ryukoku University, 1-5 Yokotani, Seta-Oe, Otsu, Shiga 520-2194, Japan;2. Research Center for Wildlife Management, Gifu University, Yanagido, Gifu 501-1193, Japan;3. Department of Environmental Solution Technology, Graduate School of Science and Technology, Ryukoku University, 1-5 Yokotani, Seta-Oe, Otsu, Shiga 520-2194, Japan;1. Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4070, Australia;2. Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA;3. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA;1. Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, Scotland, FK9 4LA, UK;2. RSPB Centre for Conservation Science, RSPB Scotland, 2 Lochside View, Edinburgh Park, Edinburgh, EH12 9DH, UK |
| |
| Abstract: | This 6-year experimental study measured the response of bird populations and abundance to combinations of mixed cropping and low pesticide regimes associated with a commercial crop rotation. The results show a rapid and sustained population increase among a wide range of bird species, in contrast to local regional trends for the same species. Seventy percent of the increase occurred within the first 3 years of the experiment, with species of high conservation concern, and those monitored as environmental indicators on lowland farmland in the UK, increasing on average, by 30% and 20% respectively (reaching respective peaks of 44% and 33% after 4 years). For some individual species, the increase was higher still, i.e., 300% (1–4 pairs) for grey partridge (Perdix perdix) and 46% (13–19 pairs) for skylarks (Alauda arvensis) in peak years. The results demonstrate that bird species typical of lowland arable farmland in the UK are responsive to suitable farm-scale changes in habitat and food provision (roughly, manipulation within less than 1-km2). They show that the carrying capacity of modern, commercially viable, arable farmland can be increased significantly for birds, in this case, mainly by using crops mosaics to create habitats alongside the appropriate use of herbicides on non-cropped habitats. |
| |
| Keywords: | |
| 本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录！ |
|
