Effects of agricultural management on birds breeding in cereal cultures: a multi-scale process

Abstract

Morales, M.B., Guerrero, I., Oñate, J.J. (2013). Effects of agricultural management on birds breeding in cereal cultures: a multi-scale process. Ecosistemas 22(1):25-29. Doi.: 10.7818/ECOS.2013.22-1.05

Agricultural intensification over the last decades has brought about a remarkable population decline of bird species breeding in European agro-ecosystems. In Spain, agricultural intensification is affecting species closely linked to Mediterranean cereal pseudo-steppes and whose main world populations are found in the Iberian Peninsula. In recent years, several studies have attempted to identify the agricultural management factors more directly involved in farmland bird declines, including those operating at large spatial scales (e.g. landscape scale) and those related to the specific management of each cultivated field. At the same time, other studies have focused on assessing the effectiveness of measures undertaken to halt such population declines (i.e. agri-environmental measures). In the present article, we synthesize the results obtained in Spain of a large scale European collaborative project on the effect of agricultural intensification on the biodiversity harboured by dry cereal cultures, identifying the most relevant management factors at each spatial scale, and discussing the implication of these results for and agricultural management compatible with the conservation of farmland bird communities.