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Résumé :
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Today, agricultural markets, grants and regulations may change dramatically over few years and the accompanying changes in land use may have profound effects on farmland wildlife. The current small study concerning wintering birds forms part of a wider study evaluating the habitat value for wildlife of a new perennial farmland crop, viz. short rotation coppiced (SRC) biomass willow. At 15 visits over two winters, birds were recorded at each of 8 censusing points in a typical intensive mixed Danish farmland landscape. Habitats were assigned to 7 different types, including SRC-willow. The main material comprised 403 individual recordings of 32 species. Species composition, species richness and abundance were analyzed by pooling frequencies of recordings across visits and censusing points. Among represented habitats, SRC-willow took an intermediate position concerning species richness, total abundance, and abundance of all single species except Skylark. Levels of these parameters were much below those in small farmland woods and other small uncultivated biotopes, but much above levels found in arable fields and perennial grass set-aside. The results are discussed in relation to other animal groups studied at the same site, and recommandations for a bird-friendly establishment and management of SRC-willow are given.
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