På svenska
Is the decline of the house sparrow caused by reduced farmland heterogeneity?
Swedish farmland bird populations have declined for decades, reflecting
trends throughout northern Europe. These declines have been attributed
to agricultural intensification, resulting in loss of ecological
heterogeneity at multiple spatial scales. The house sparrow is a
farmland bird that has declined with ca 50% in Sweden. The house sparrow
depends on insects for breeding and seeds for survival. Increased use of
pesticides, more competitive crops and reduced availability of field
borders may have resulted in loss of weeds and thereby availability of
both insects and seeds. Reduced animal husbandry may have reduced
availability of insects. In particular, we suggest that farm
specialisation has resulted in increased spatial separation of resources
needed for successful reproduction and over winter survival and that
this may be the main cause behind the population decline of the house
sparrow.
The aim of this study of house sparrows is to:
- Using replicated landscapes, determine the effect of farmland heterogeneity and farming methods on fitness
- Determine if variation in farmland heterogeneity and farming methods mainly affects reproductive success and/or over winter survival
- Experimentally evaluate if there is spatial variation in the strength of summer and winter population regulation
- Evaluate landscape quality for house sparrows using behavioural indicators
- Determine if house sparrow populations are structured into sources and sinks
Page manager: Frida Rosengren
Questions about the website: Web group
Publisher: Department of Biology
Last modified 30 Mar 2012
SYSAV Natur- och Viltvård