Unpublished conference/Abstract (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
Are Christmas tree plantations a suitable habitat for farmland birds?
Gailly, Robin; Paquet, Jean-Yves; Titeux, Nicolas et al.
2016Bird Numbers 2016 - Birds in a changing world
 

Files


Full Text
session 4-Robin Gailly-christmas tree plantations.pdf
Publisher postprint (2.2 MB)
Download

All documents in ORBi are protected by a user license.

Send to



Details



Keywords :
Bird; Christmas tree plantation; habitat suitability; Belgium
Abstract :
[en] Over the last decade, nonfood perennial crops have been increasingly prevalent in European farming systems. Here, vegetation structure and crop management greatly differ from conventional crops and may likely impact farmland birds. Impacts on birds have been examined for bioenergy agricultural systems, such as miscanthus plantations and short rotation willow coppice. In Europe, the extend of Christmas tree plantations (CTP) has recently increased dramatically in farmland but their impacts on farmland birds remains largely unknown. We examined the extent to which CTP in southern Belgium alter bird species assemblages compared to traditional farmland. The presence and abundance of birds were recorded twice during a breeding season in randomly selected sites located in farmland areas with and without CTP. Results show that the conversion of traditional farmland into CTP modifies bird species assemblages and locally increases bird diversity and density without inducing biotic homogenization. This observed pattern indicates that CTP might constitute an interesting alternative habitat for farmland birds. However bird presence or abundance may be confounding indicator of habitat quality because individuals may be attracted to low-quality habitats in human modified landscapes. The European Stonechat Saxicola rubicola was chosen as a model species to investigate the quality of CTP as a breeding habitat in more details. Habitat quality in CTP was assessed with measures of reproductive success and survival. These measures were compared with those collected in traditional farmland. Although vegetation structure, field management and nest placement are highly different between habitat types, our first results suggest that CTP are not of lesser quality than traditional farmland for the European Stonechat.
Disciplines :
Environmental sciences & ecology
Author, co-author :
Gailly, Robin ;  Université de Liège > Ingénierie des biosystèmes (Biose) > Biodiversité et Paysage
Paquet, Jean-Yves;  Aves-Natagora > Département Etudes
Titeux, Nicolas;  Forest Sciences Centre of Catalonia
Claessens, Hugues ;  Université de Liège > Ingénierie des biosystèmes (Biose) > Gestion des ressources forestières et des milieux naturels
Dufrêne, Marc  ;  Université de Liège > Ingénierie des biosystèmes (Biose) > Biodiversité et Paysage
Language :
English
Title :
Are Christmas tree plantations a suitable habitat for farmland birds?
Alternative titles :
[fr] Les plantations de sapins de Noël constituent-elles un habitat favorable pour les oiseaux des milieux agricoles ?
Publication date :
06 September 2016
Event name :
Bird Numbers 2016 - Birds in a changing world
Event organizer :
European Bird Census Council
Event place :
Halle (Saale), Germany
Event date :
du 5 au 9 septembre 2016
Audience :
International
Available on ORBi :
since 23 September 2016

Statistics


Number of views
69 (16 by ULiège)
Number of downloads
51 (4 by ULiège)

Bibliography


Similar publications



Contact ORBi