The role of set-asides in the conservation of birds on the Heves Environmentally Sensitive Area
Abstract
The area of natural and semi-natural habitats decreased because of the intensification of farmland management. The participants of the agri-environment schemes, which were found to halt the decline of biodiversity, have to rest 5% of their area in every year in the Heves ESesA. These set-asides could be potential breeding and foraging habitats for farmland birds. In our study we compared birds of 1, 2 and 3 years old set-asides, winter cereal fields and grasslands in 39 sampling sites in the Heves ESesA in 2008. Bird census was conducted two times, in April and May in 100 meter radius circles. We spent 5 minutes in every circle and detected the birds by visual and acoustic signs. In 176 census points 1347 individuals of 51 species were detected. The most abundant species were the skylark (Alauda arvensis), the yellow wagtail (Motacilla flava) and the corn bunting (Miliaria calandra– The winter wheat fields were the poorest in species and individuals. The species richness and abundance of birds in set-asides increased with time of resting. The grassland was richer in species than the 1 and 2 years old set-asides, and in and abundance also than the 1 year old set-asides. According to our results we suggest that many bird species and individuals prefer the set-asides, and therefore their role in conserving farmland biodiversity could be considerable.
References
Ángyán, J., Tardy, J. & Vajnáné Madarassy, A. (szerk.) (2003): Védett és érzékeny természeti területek mezőgazdálkodásának alapjai. – Mezőgazda Kiadó, Budapest.
Báldi, A., Moskát, C. & Szép, T. (1997): Nemzeti Biodiverzitás-monitorozó Rendszer. IX. Madarak. – Magyar Természettudományi Múzeum, Budapest, 80 pp.
Batáry, P., Báldi, A. & Erdős, S. (2007) Helyi és tájszerkezeti hatások alföldi gyepek madárközösségeire. – Termvéd. Közl. 13: 241–248.
Benton, T. G., Vickery, J. A. & Wilson, J. D. (2003): Farmland biodiversity: is habitat heterogeneity the key? – Trends Ecol. Evol. 18: 182–188.
Critchley, C. N. R. & Fowbert, J. A. (2000): Development of vegetation on set-aside land for up to nine years from a national perspective. – Agr. Ecosyst. Environ. 79: 159–174.
Erdős, S., Báldi, A., Batáry, P. (2009): Nest site selection and breeding ecology of Sky Larks Alauda arvensis in Hungarian farmland. – Bird Study 56: 259-263.
Henderson, I. G., Cooper, J., Fuller, R. J. & Vickery, J. (2000): The relative abundance of birds on set-aside and neighbouring fi elds in summer. – J. Appl. Ecol. 37: 335–347.
Kovács, A., Batáry, P. & Báldi, A. (2007): Különböző intenzitással kezelt szántóföldek madár és növény fajszámának és abundanciájának összehasonlítása. – Termvéd. Közlem. 13: 371–378.
Moreira, F. (1999) Relationships between vegetation structure and breeding bird densities in fallow cereal steppes in Castro Verde, Portugal. – Bird Study 46: 309–318.
Peach, W. J., Lovett, L. J., Wotton, S. R. & Jeffs, C. (2001): Countryside stewardship delivers Cirl Buntings Emberiza cirlus in Devon, UK. – Biol. Conserv. 101: 361–373.
R Development Core Team (2006): R: a language and environment for statistical computing. Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna. URL: http://www.R-project.org.
Robinson, R.A. & Sutherland, W.J. (2002): Post-war changes in arable farming and biodiversity in Great Britain. – J. Appl. Ecol. 39: 157–176.
Stoate, C., Boatman, N. D., Borralho, R. J., Rio Carvalho C., de Snoo G. R. & Eden P. (2001): Ecological impacts of arable intensification in Europe. – J. Environ. Manage. 63: 337–365.
Sutherland, J. W. (2002): Openness in management. – Nature 418: 834–835.
Svenning, J. C. (2002): A review of natural vegetation openness in north-western Europe. – Biol. Conserv. 104: 133–148.
Szép, T. & Nagy, K. (2002): Mindennapi Madaraink Monitoringja (MMM) 1999–2000. – Budapest: MME BirdLife Hungary.
Wilson, J. D., Evans, J., Browne, S. J. & King, J. R. (1997): Territorial distribution and breeding success of skylarks on organic and intensive farmland in southern England. – J. Appl. Ecol. 34: 1462–1478.
