Low intensity, mixed livestock grazing improves the breeding abundance of a common insectivorous passerine

Biology Letters

Volumn 2, Issue 4, 2006, Pages 636-638

  Evans, Darren M ^a,d,e   Redpath, Stephen M ^a   Evans, Sharon A ^a   Elston, David A ^b   Gardner, Charles J ^c   Dennis, Peter ^c   Pakeman, Robin J ^c  

^a CENTRE FOR ECOLOGY AND HYDROLOGY   (United Kingdom)

^b BIOMATHEMATICS AND STATISTICS SCOTLAND   (United Kingdom)

^c SCOTTISH CROP RESEARCH INSTITUTE   (United Kingdom)

^d A ROCHA INTERNATIONAL   (United Kingdom)

^e UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Bird declines; Cattle; Conservation; Sheep

Indexed keywords

BREEDING POPULATION; CATTLE; FIELD SURVEY; GRAZING; HETEROGENEITY; INSECTIVORE; LIVESTOCK FARMING; MANAGEMENT PRACTICE; PASSERINE; PREY AVAILABILITY; SHEEP; VEGETATION STRUCTURE;

ARTICLE; BREEDING; CATTLE; CONTROLLED STUDY; DENSITY; FIELD EXPERIMENT; GRAZING; HERBIVORE; LIVESTOCK; NONHUMAN; PREY; PRIORITY JOURNAL; SHEEP; SONGBIRD; VEGETATION;

EURASIA; EUROPE; UNITED KINGDOM; WESTERN EUROPE;

ANIMALIA; ANTHUS PRATENSIS; AVES; BOS TAURUS; OVIS ARIES; PASSERIFORMES;

EID: 33845575321     PISSN: 17449561     EISSN: 1744957X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2006.0543     Document Type: Article

References (15)

1. Atkinson, P. W. et al. 2005 Influence of agricultural management, sward structure and food resources on grassland field use by birds in lowland England. J. Appl. Ecol. 42, 932-942. (doi:10.1111/j.1365-2664.2005.01070.x)
2. Bardgett, R. D., Marsden, J. H. & Howard, D. C. 1995 The extent and condition of heather on moorland in the uplands of England and Wales. Biol. Conserv. 71, 155-161. (doi:10.1016/0006-3207(94)00042-O)
3. Beaufoy, G., Baldock, D. & Clark, J. 1994 The nature of farming: low intensity farming in nine European countries. London, UK: Institute for European Environmental Policy.
4. Dennis, P., Young, M. R. & Gordon, I. J. 1998 Distribution and abundance of small insects and arachnids in relation to structural heterogeneity of grazed, indigenous grasslands. Ecol. Entomol. 23, 253-264. (doi:10.1046/j.1365-2311.1998.00135.x)
5. Dennis, P. et al. 2005 Effects of grazing management on upland bird populations: disentangling habitat structure and arthropod food supply at appropriate spatial scales (GRUB). Edinburgh, UK: Scottish Executive Environment & Rural Affairs Department.
6. Evans, D. M., Redpath, S. M., Evans, S. A., Elston, D. A. & Dennis, P. 2005 Livestock grazing affects the egg size of an insectivorous passerine. Biol. Lett. 1, 322-325. (doi:10.1098/rsbl.2005.0335)
7. Fleischner, T. L. 1994 Ecological costs of livestock grazing in western North America. Conserv. Biol. 8, 629-644. (doi:10.1046/j.1523-1739.1994. 08030629.x)
8. Fuller, R. J. & Gough, S. J. 1999 Changes in sheep numbers in Britain: implications for bird populations. Biol. Conserv. 91, 73-89. (doi:10.1016/80006-3207(99)00039-7)
9. Knopf, F. L. 1994 Avian assemblages on altered grasslands. Stud. Avian Biol. 15, 247-257.
10. Martin, T. G. & Possingham, H. P. 2005 Predicting the impact of livestock grazing on birds using foraging height data. J. Appl. Ecol. 42, 400-408. (doi:10.1111/j.1365-2664.2005.01012.x)
11. McCracken, D. I. & Foster, G. N. 1994 Invertebrates, cow-dung, and the availability of potential food for the chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax L.) on pastures in north-west Islay. Environ. Conserv. 21, 262-266.
12. Pearce-Higgins, J. W. & Grant, M. C. 2006 Relationships between bird abundance and the composition and structure of moorland vegetation. Bird Study 53, 112-125.
13. Sydes, C. & Miller, G. R. 1988 Range management and nature conservation in the British Uplands. In Ecological Change in the Uplands (ed. M. B. Usher & D. B. A. Thompson), pp. 323-337. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Scientific Publications.
14. Vickery, J. A., Tallowin, J. R., Feber, R. E., Asteraki, E. J., Atkinson, P. W., Fuller, R. J. & Brown, V. K. 2001 The management of lowland neutral grasslands in Britain: effects of agricultural practices on birds and their food resources. J. Appl. Ecol. 38, 647-664. (doi:10.1046/j.1365-2664.2001.00626.x)
15. Vickery, P. D., Tubaro, P. L., da Silva, J. M. C., Peterjohn, P. G., Herkert, J. R. & Calvalcanti, R. B. 1999 Conservation of grassland birds in the western hemisphere. In Conservation of grassland birds of the western hemisphere, vol. 19 (ed. P. D. Vickery & J. R. Herkert), pp. 2-26. Camarillo, CA: Cooper Ornithological Society.