Resch Marlies, Suarez-Rubio Marcela
Institute of Zoology, Department of Integrative Biology and Biodiversity Research, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria.
PeerJ. 2021 Nov 19;9:e12476. doi: 10.7717/peerj.12476. eCollection 2021.
Farmland birds have declined in the last decades mostly due to agriculture intensification. The Woodlark , a farmland species of conservation concern and protected by the European Bird Directive, occurs in a variety of habitats across its geographic range. Although habitat heterogeneity has been recognized as a key feature, the preference or avoidance of particular habitat attributes might differ across its range because different localities may have distinct conditions. Such variation would challenge conservation efforts at the local level. Our aim was to assess habitat associations of Woodlarks and determine whether the habitat attributes identified as important in other locations across its range could be generalised and applied to Austrian populations. In addition, habitat associations can be influenced by land-use change. We examined changes in land use from 2007 to 2016 in 15 municipalities surrounding areas occupied by Woodlarks. We quantified the composition and configuration of the local landscape surrounding 18 singing males' territories and 16 non-territory sites. We found that the probability of Woodlarks territories increased with landscape heterogeneity between 50% and 70%, increased with dispersed bare soil patches, decreased with overall patch density and were away from dirt roads. Contrary to our expectation, there was no indication of land-use change. In contrast to previous studies, vegetation height, the presence and proximity to woodland were not identified as important habitat characteristics. Thus, some conservation recommendations can be derived from other localities, for example, maintaining or enhancing landscape heterogeneity. However, others should be adapted to local conditions. In Austria, conservation efforts should focus on including dispersed patches of bare soil and limiting the development of dirt roads nearby Woodlark territories, in addition to promoting a heterogeneous landscape.
在过去几十年中，农田鸟类数量减少，主要原因是农业集约化。云雀是一种受保护的农田鸟类，受到《欧洲鸟类指令》的保护，在其地理分布范围内的各种栖息地都有出现。尽管栖息地的异质性已被视为一个关键特征，但由于不同地区的条件可能不同，其对特定栖息地属性的偏好或回避在其分布范围内可能会有所不同。这种变化将对地方层面的保护工作构成挑战。我们的目标是评估云雀的栖息地关联，并确定在其分布范围内其他地方被认为重要的栖息地属性是否可以推广并应用于奥地利的种群。此外，栖息地关联可能会受到土地利用变化的影响。我们研究了云雀栖息地周边15个市镇在2007年至2016年期间的土地利用变化。我们对18只鸣叫雄性云雀领地和16个非领地地点周围的当地景观的组成和配置进行了量化。我们发现，云雀领地的概率在景观异质性为50%至70%时增加，随着裸露土壤斑块的分散而增加，随着总体斑块密度的降低而降低，并且远离土路。与我们的预期相反，没有土地利用变化的迹象。与之前的研究不同，植被高度、林地的存在和接近程度未被确定为重要的栖息地特征。因此，一些保护建议可以从其他地方推导出来，例如，保持或增强景观异质性。然而，其他建议应因地制宜。在奥地利，保护工作应侧重于包括分散的裸露土壤斑块，限制云雀领地附近土路的发展，此外还要促进景观的异质性。
