agricultural intensification; farmland birds; habitat selection; population decline; species conservation; vegetation structure; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Animal Science and Zoology
Abstract :
[en] Farmland habitats witness steep declines in biodiversity. One rapidly declining farmland species is the ortolan bunting Emberiza hortulana. In Finland, a staggering 99% of the population has been lost during the past 30 years. Changes in the breeding habitats have been proposed as a reason for the decline, although hazards during migration and wintering may also play a role. We gathered a 19-year data set of Finnish ortolan buntings and studied which spatial characteristics, habitat features, and climate factors might explain the population growth rate at the singing-group level. As explanatory variables we used region, density of small-scale structures, proportion of agricultural area in the landscape, diversity of crop types, proportion of bare ground, and temperature and precipitation of previous breeding season. Higher population growth rates were associated with higher crop type diversity and higher proportion of bare ground. The mosaic of various crop plants and bare ground may provide a wider array of feeding, hiding and nesting places, and an easier access to food. Higher growth rates were also associated with landscapes dominated by interconnected agricultural land, which may reflect the species' sociability and avoidance of forested areas. The North Ostrobothnia region had higher growth rates compared to other regions. We suggest that northern populations of ortolan bunting should be targeted for further studies on feeding and breeding ecology as well as for urgent conservation actions, such as increasing crop type diversity and bare ground.
Disciplines :
Environmental sciences & ecology
Author, co-author :
Piirainen, Sirke ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences sociales > Labo d'anthropologie sociale et culturelle (LASC) ; Zoological Unit, Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland ; Arctic Centre, University of Lapland, Rovaniemi, Finland
Seimola, Tuomas; Natural Resources Institute Finland, Helsinki, Finland
Lindén, Andreas ; Natural Resources Institute Finland, Helsinki, Finland
Tiainen, Juha; Natural Resources Institute Finland, Helsinki, Finland ; Lammi Biological Station, University of Helsinki, Lammi, Finland
Piha, Markus ; Natural Resources Institute Finland, Helsinki, Finland
Language :
English
Title :
Habitat characteristics and the rate of decline in a threatened farmland bird, the ortolan bunting Emberiza hortulana
Publication date :
September 2024
Journal title :
Journal of Avian Biology
ISSN :
0908-8857
eISSN :
1600-048X
Publisher :
John Wiley and Sons Inc
Volume :
2024
Issue :
9-10
Peer reviewed :
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Funding text :
\u2013 SP was funded by the Finnish Cultural Foundation and the Kone Foundation (grant no. 201903886).
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