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Evidence-based remedies of farmland bird declines
The dramatic declines of Swedish farmland birds, reflecting trends in northern Europe, have been attributed to agricultural intensification resulting in loss of ecological heterogeneity at multiple scales. Agri-environment schemes are used to reduce agricultural intensity and/or to restore ecological heterogeneity and thereby benefit farmland biodiversity. However, there is a lack of rigorous scientific evaluation of their effectiveness in preserving biodiversity. In particular, there is a need to optimize the efficiency of agri-environment schemes to preserve biodiversity in different types of agricultural landscapes, e.g. intensively farmed plains and landscapes with mixed agriculture. The aim of this project is to:
- Use meta-analysis to compile studies evaluating the effect of agri-environment schemes on the diversity and abundance of farmland birds, in particular if measures vary in their effectiveness across landscapes of different heterogeneity
- Proropose and experimentally evaluate agri-environment schemes that are acceptable within modern agronomic practices on the abundance and diversity of farmland birds in agricultural landscapes of different heterogeneity
- In a focal study of the house sparrow, experimentally investigate mechanisms by which the effectiveness of agri-environment measures may vary across landscapes
- Propose cost-efficient ways to use agri-environment schemes to restore biodiversity of farmland birds in Sweden
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Publisher: Department of Biology
Last modified 30 Mar 2012