La Tour du Valat

Institut de recherche pour la conservation des zones humides méditerranéennes

Titre :	Contrasting patch selection of breeding Yellowhammers Emberiza citrinella in set-aside and cereal crops (2010)
Auteurs :	David J. T. Douglas, Auteur ; Tim G. Benton, Auteur ; Juliet A. Vickery, Auteur
Type de document :	Article
Dans :	Bird Study (57(1) 2010)
Article en page(s) :	69-74
Langues:	Anglais
Résumé :	Capsule No strong determinants of patch selection were found in set-aside; in cereal fields tractor tramlines were favoured. Aims To examine and compare the factors influencing patch selection by Yellowhammers foraging for nestling food in set-aside and cereals. Methods Observations of adults provisioning nestlings were made at 21 nests on lowland mixed farmland in northeast Scotland. Vegetation measurements and arthropod abundance from mapped foraging sites were compared with control sites within the same habitats. Results In set-aside, no differences in vegetation and arthropods were found between foraging and control sites. In cereal fields, tractor tramlines with sparser vegetation than cropped areas were favoured. Conclusions Set-aside typically offers a heterogeneous sward and birds foraging within this may be less restricted in their choice of accessible foraging sites, relative to the dense swards of intensively managed cereal crops. Recent policy changes have resulted in the reconversion of set-aside to more intensive cereal cropping; this may reduce the availability of beneficial foraging habitat for farmland birds.

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