Tag: farmland birds

Agriculture, Research summaries

The landscape of fear in cattle farms? How the presence of barn swallow influences the activity of pest flies

Authors of a research article recently published in Journal of Applied Ecology talk us through how barn swallows are effective biological control agents for lowering pest fly activity in livestock farms. Preamble: Farmland birds, filth flies and the landscape of fear Birds are key suppliers of crucial ecosystem services worldwide, and insectivorous species can consume up to 400 – 500 million tons of prey each … Continue reading The landscape of fear in cattle farms? How the presence of barn swallow influences the activity of pest flies

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Agriculture, Research summaries

How much agri-environment provision is required to reverse farmland bird declines?

Dr Robert Hawkes, RSPB Conservation Scientist, explains the findings of a recently published article. Here, RSPB and BTO scientists, in partnership with Natural England, explore how much bird-friendly agri-environment management is needed to stabilise or reverse farmland bird declines. The UK government has recently committed to halting species abundance declines in England by 2030, with similar timebound EU targets currently under discussion. With many species … Continue reading How much agri-environment provision is required to reverse farmland bird declines?

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Agriculture, Research summaries

Complex landscapes and complex decisions for farmland conservation

In this post, discover how farmland birds and agri-environmental schemes went from dissertation topic, to British Ecological Society Annual Meeting talk, to published paper for one early career researcher. Gergana Daskalova (University of Edinburgh) describes the evolution of Population responses of farmland bird species to agri‐environment schemes and land management options in Northeastern Scotland. Farmland birds: decades of decline and mixed benefits of agri-environmental schemes … Continue reading Complex landscapes and complex decisions for farmland conservation

Unknown's avatarJournal of Applied Ecology1 Comment