Evaluating conservation tools in intensively-used farmland: Higher bird and mammal diversity in seed-rich strips during winter

0551049 - ÚBO 2023 RIV NL eng J - Článek v odborném periodiku
Šálek, Martin - Bažant, M. - Żmihorski, M. - Gamero, A.
Evaluating conservation tools in intensively-used farmland: Higher bird and mammal diversity in seed-rich strips during winter.
Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. Roč. 327, April (2022), č. článku 107844. ISSN 0167-8809. E-ISSN 1873-2305
Grant ostatní: AV ČR(CZ) StrategieAV21/9
Program: StrategieAV
Institucionální podpora: RVO:68081766
Klíčová slova: Farmland biodiversity * Arable landscape * Strip width * Food limitation * Species-specific habitat selection * Winter * Agri-environmental schemes
Obor OECD: Biodiversity conservation
Impakt faktor: 6.6, rok: 2022
Způsob publikování: Omezený přístup
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016788092100548X?via%3Dihub

Farmland biodiversity have experienced a steep decline over recent decades. Various conservation measures, including EU agri-environmental schemes (AES), have been designed to prevent further biodiversity loss. Despite the AES were criticized for limited benefits for biodiversity, the existing conservation evidence demonstrated some AES, such as seed-rich strips (SRS), can have a positive effect on overall biodiversity. However, evidence of the effectiveness of SRS during winter is largely missing in Eastern Europe or it is based on single-species evaluations. In our study, we investigate the effects of SRS on several taxa typical of the farmland (i.e., farmland birds, European hare, roe deer and small mammals) during winter, when these species may suffer from a lack of food sources. More specifically, we evaluated the effect of spatial location (hedges, forests, and open fields), time in the season (early and late winter), and area (Single Large or Several Small analysis, i.e., “SLOSS analysis”) of SRS on species richness and abundance of birds and mammals. SRS showed higher species richness and abundance than control transects, except for roe deer. The largest differences in abundance and species richness of farmland birds between the SRS and the controls were found in the fields. The highest abundance of European hare and small mammals were found in SRS located in the fields. Ordination analysis indicated that several bird species preferred SRS. Moreover, different birds occurred in strips adjacent to open fields, hedges, and forest, indicating that the landscape context of SRS can affect its use by different bird species. We found a significant decrease in the abundance of farmland birds and declining farmland species during late winter in the SRS, but not in the controls, suggesting the SRS may be depleted of seeds towards the end of winter. Finally, the SLOSS analysis indicated there was no clear difference in species richness between small-to-large and large-to-small strips accumulation, but the pooled abundance of all birds and mammals was generally higher at a few large rather than many small patches of the same cumulative size. Our findings suggest that SRS are a simple and cost-effective measure for farmland biodiversity conservation. Even relatively small SRS are used by many species and therefore should be promoted. SRS careful planning (e.g., location of SRS within the landscape and the choice of seed mixtures) can improve their effectiveness for biodiversity conservation.
Trvalý link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0326362