Lewis-Phillips, J;
Brooks, S;
Sayer, C;
McCrea, R;
Siriwardena, G;
Robson, H;
Harrison, A;
(2019)
Seasonal benefits of farmland pond management for birds.
Bird Study
, 66
(3)
pp. 342-352.
10.1080/00063657.2019.1688762.
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Abstract
Capsule: Seasonal benefits of farmland pond restoration for birds. Aims: To evaluate season-specific benefits of farmland pond restoration for local bird communities. Methods: Bird communities were recorded at unmanaged overgrown and managed opencanopy farmland ponds over the breeding, post-breeding and winter seasons. Results were compared and related to seasonal variation in environmental conditions of within-pond and marginal habitats to identify predictors of local bird communities. Results: Bird communities at managed open-canopy ponds showed a higher abundance and species richness over all seasons displaying pronounced seasonal shifts in composition. Warblers and other specialised bird species were frequently observed at open-canopy sites over the breeding and post-breeding seasons but were generally absent from overgrown ponds. While pond management and landscape connectivity had a consistent positive influence on bird communities over all seasons, the importance of other predictors such as bramble area varied seasonally. Conclusions: Our study highlights a key role of pond management for farmland bird conservation. In addition, the identified seasonal predictors of bird assemblages provide valuable lessons for the design of agri-environment prescriptions for farmland ponds, highlighting the importance of bramble-dominated patches and pond marginal habitat over the breeding season and of a strong connectivity between pond margins and surrounding semi-natural habitats throughout the year
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Seasonal benefits of farmland pond management for birds |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1080/00063657.2019.1688762 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1080/00063657.2019.1688762 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| Keywords: | Aquatic habitat restoration; pond restoration; agricultural biodiversity conservation; agrienvironment schemes |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Dept of Geography |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10079401 |
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