[en] Agricultural intensification has caused substantial biodiversity loss in farmland worldwide. Although China's farmland accounts for a significant proportion globally, knowledge about farmland heterogeneity and biodiversity remains limited. We examined how semi-natural habitats and habitat heterogeneity affect bird diversity in the intensively managed, low-crop-diversity (wheat–maize rotation) farmland of Qihe County, Shandong Province, China. We applied a multi-scale approach that included patch-scale and transect-scale analyses at both local (100 m buffer) and broader local (200 m buffer) scales across 20 transects, with habitat data classified into eight types: cropland, woody vegetation, herbaceous vegetation, reed, bare ground, tomb (small, earthen mounds with spontaneous vegetation), water, and artificial infrastructure. Bird richness and abundance were recorded within 100 m on either side of each 500 m transect. At the patch scale, Semi-natural habitats—particularly tombs, woody vegetation, and reeds—supported higher bird richness and abundance. At both local and broader local scales, semi-natural habitats positively influenced bird richness, but their positive effect on abundance occurred only at the local scale; woody vegetation, herbaceous, and reed were most important locally, while at the broader scale, richness was mainly associated with woody vegetation, herbaceous, and bare ground. Habitat diversity (SHDI) positively affected species richness, edge density (ED) of semi-natural habitat had a positive effect on bird abundance, and mean patch size showed limited effects. These results indicate that biodiversity in intensively farmed landscapes can be enhanced through the management of semi-natural habitats and habitat heterogeneity, highlighting the importance of maintaining these habitats and improving landscape connectivity.
Disciplines :
Environmental sciences & ecology
Author, co-author :
Zheng, Hongyan ; Université de Liège - ULiège > TERRA Research Centre ; Agro-Environmental Protection Institute, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Tianjin, China
Klein, Noëlle; Agricultural Landscapes and Biodiversity, Zurich, Switzerland ; Chair of Planning of Landscape and Urban Systems (PLUS), Institute for Spatial and Landscape Planning, Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
Wang, Lili; Agro-Environmental Protection Institute, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Tianjin, China
Kay, Sonja; Agricultural Landscapes and Biodiversity, Zurich, Switzerland
Herzog, Felix; Agricultural Landscapes and Biodiversity, Zurich, Switzerland
Shi, Rongguang; Agro-Environmental Protection Institute, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Tianjin, China
Liu, Rongle; Agro-Environmental Protection Institute, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Tianjin, China
Bogaert, Jan ; Université de Liège - ULiège > TERRA Research Centre > Biodiversité, Ecosystème et Paysage (BEP)
Language :
English
Title :
Semi-natural habitats enhance bird diversity in intensively managed farmlands in North China
CSC - China Scholarship Council AEPI - Agro-Environmental Protection Institute CAAS - Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences MOA - Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People's Republic of China
Funding text :
This study was supported by the Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Program, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (Agro-Environmental Protection Institute, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs) . Hongyan Zheng's scholarship was sponsored by the China Scholarship Council (No. 202203250056 ).We acknowledge the Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences\u2014University of Li\u00E8ge joint PhD program.
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