Food Availability for Meadow Bird Families in Grass Field Margins
[摘要] AgriculturalintensificationingrasslandshasledtothedeclineofmeadowbirdpopulationsinTheNetherlandsinthelast60years.Habitatformeadowbirdchickshasdeclinedinqualityandquantity,therebyreducingfoodavailability.Agri-environmentschemes(AES)tohaltthedeclineinmeadowbirdnumbershavethusfarbeeninsufficient.TheseAESareonthelevelofentirefields,butrecentresearchsuggeststhatmarginsoffieldsmaybemoresuitablechickhabitatthancentresoffields.Therefore,itcouldbeproductivetospecificallytargetgrassfieldmarginsaspartofmeadowbirdAES.Ourstudyexaminedthedifferencesinfoodavailabilityformeadowbirdfamiliesindifferentportionsofagrassfield.Invertebratesweresampledindifferentlocationsonthefieldandresultswerecomparedtoknowndietarypreferencesoffourspeciesofmeadowbirdchicks.Weshowstrongdifferencesinfoodavailabilitywithinfields,dependingonmeadowbirdspecies.ThepreferredpreyspeciesofchicksofBlack-tailedGodwitLimosalimosaandRedshankTringatotanuspredominantlyoccurredinfieldmargins,whereasthoseofOystercatcherHaematopusostraleguschickswerefoundmostlyinthemainpartofthefield.ThepreyspeciesofNorthernLapwingVanellusvanelluschicksshowednoclearpatternwithinfields.Weconcludethatfoodavailabilitywithinafielddiffersspatiallybetweenmeadowbirdspecies.ParticularlyforBlack-tailedGodwitandRedshank,grassfieldmarginsconstituteanimportantpartofthefield.Therefore,specificmanagementtofurtherenhancefoodavailabilityinthesemarginsmayconstituteanimportantadditiontotheexistingmosaicapproach.
[发布日期] [发布机构]
[效力级别] [学科分类] 动物科学
[关键词] Agricultural Intensification [时效性]
