How effective are the management regulations of the Great Bustard Protection Agro-Environmental Program?
Abstract
The aim of our study was to reveal the impact of different agricultural activities on the reproductive success of the Great Bustard Otis tarda in order to assess the effectiveness of the Great Bustard Protection Program of the Agro-Environmental Program. Our analysis was based on hatching data of 1.022 eggs collected during the last three decades which originated from the wild population and were incubated artificially at the Great Bustard Protection Centre in Dévaványa, in the Körös-Maros National Park. The timing of egg laying, hatching and reaching the six-week old stage was calculated and compared with timing of agricultural activities, taking into consideration the general practices and the restrictions of the AKG Program. The results show that egg laying is markedly asynchronous, indicating a high proportion of unsuccessful broods leading to replacement clutches. The survival of the eggs and chicks seems to be mostly affected by hay-making and chemical treatments of cereals.
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