Abstract
Data on --- birds occurring in farmland in the : Baltic States of
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were related to the
--- spatial organisation of farmed habitats in three different agricultural
landscape types.
-- Species richness, abundance, and diversity of farmland bird communities,
as well as
-- abundance of the most frequently observed species were -- positively
related to the -- number of residual non-cropped elements within
farmland,
-- the local mixture of annual crop and grass fields, and the
-- variety of field types.
The positive association of the species richness and abundance of
the farmland bird community with richness in residual habitats and
crops was most prominent in open landscapes.
The results suggest that, by simplifying farmland structure and making
it more homogenous, EU agricultural policies will have a detrimental
effect on farmland bird populations in Eastern Europe.
Ways of better targeting of the agri-environment schemes are suggested.
(c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Users
Please
log in to take part in the discussion (add own reviews or comments).