Royal Society for the Protection of Birds

About: Royal Society for the Protection of Birds is a nonprofit organization based out in Sandy, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Biodiversity. The organization has 670 authors who have published 1425 publications receiving 88006 citations. The organization is also known as: RSPB & Plumage League.

Habitat selection by yellowhammers Emberiza citrinella on lowland farmland at two spatial scales: implications for conservation management

Abstract: Summary 1. Yellowhammer Emberiza citrinella populations have declined rapidly in the UK over recent decades, and a clear understanding of their habitat requirements is important to help inform conservation schemes. We aimed to disentangle and rank the effects of winter versus breeding season habitat characteristics. 2. We used information theoretic methods to analyse the factors determining yellowhammer distribution across 26 sites in England and Wales. We did this at two spatial levels: individual field boundaries and individual territories, the latter consisting of spatial clusters of boundaries. 3. We considered the role of nine predictor variables, all of which have been suggested in the literature as potentially important. These comprised boundary height and width, and the presence of hedges, trees, ditches, boundary strips, tillage crops, winter set-aside and winter stubbles. 4. The results of the statistical modelling showed that winter habitats play an important role in determining where birds locate territories in summer. In particular, the presence of rotational set-aside fields in winter showed the strongest association with summer territories. 5. There were minor differences between the territory- and boundary-based models. Most notably, the territory data demonstrated a strong preference for territories containing trees, but this was not observed in the boundary data set. We suggest that the differences between the models may reflect different scales of habitat selection. Boundary occupancy reflects broad distributions of habitat suitability; territory occupancy patterns better reveal detailed habitat requirements. 6. Regional densities were more closely correlated with the predictions of the boundarybased model than those of the territory-based model, and we discuss the implications of this for interpreting habitat association models. 7. Synthesis and applications. Provision of winter set-aside fields for summer territory selection by yellowhammers is an important consideration for farm management where conservation is a priority. We show that models based on occupancy of individual boundary units (e.g. hedgerows) correlate with the density of territories at the farm scale; thus farm management practices link directly to population sizes through effects on the quality of breeding habitat.

Protected areas facilitate species’ range expansions

Abstract: The benefits of protected areas (PAs) for biodiversity have been questioned in the context of climate change because PAs are static, whereas the distributions of species are dynamic. Current PAs may, however, continue to be important if they provide suitable locations for species to colonize at their leading-edge range boundaries, thereby enabling spread into new regions. Here, we present an empirical assessment of the role of PAs as targets for colonization during recent range expansions. Records from intensive surveys revealed that seven bird and butterfly species have colonized PAs 4.2 (median) times more frequently than expected from the availability of PAs in the landscapes colonized. Records of an additional 256 invertebrate species with less-intensive surveys supported these findings and showed that 98% of species are disproportionately associated with PAs in newly colonized parts of their ranges. Although colonizing species favor PAs in general, species vary greatly in their reliance on PAs, reflecting differences in the dependence of individual species on particular habitats and other conditions that are available only in PAs. These findings highlight the importance of current PAs for facilitating range expansions and show that a small subset of the landscape receives a high proportion of colonizations by range-expanding species.

The PREDICTS database: a global database of how local terrestrial biodiversity responds to human impacts

Abstract: Biodiversity continues to decline in the face of increasing anthropogenic pressures such as habitat destruction, exploitation, pollution and introduction of alien species Existing global databases of species’ threat status or population time series are dominated by charismatic species The collation of datasets with broad taxonomic and biogeographic extents, and that support computation of a range of biodiversity indicators, is necessary to enable better understanding of historical declines and to project – and avert – future declines We describe and assess a new database of more than 16 million samples from 78 countries representing over 28,000 species, collated from existing spatial comparisons of local-scale biodiversity exposed to different intensities and types of anthropogenic pressures, from terrestrial sites around the world The database contains measurements taken in 208 (of 814) ecoregions, 13 (of 14) biomes, 25 (of 35) biodiversity hotspots and 16 (of 17) megadiverse countries The database contains more than 1% of the total number of all species described, and more than 1% of the described species within many taxonomic groups – including flowering plants, gymnosperms, birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, beetles, lepidopterans and hymenopterans The dataset, which is still being added to, is therefore already considerably larger and more representative than those used by previous quantitative models of biodiversity trends and responses The database is being assembled as part of the PREDICTS project (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems – wwwpredictsorguk) We make site-level summary data available alongside this article The full database will be publicly available in 2015

How can higher-yield farming help to spare nature?

Abstract: Expansion of land area used for agriculture is a leading cause of biodiversity loss and greenhouse gas emissions, particularly in the tropics. One potential way to reduce these impacts is to increase food production per unit area (yield) on existing farmland, so as to minimize farmland area and to spare land for habitat conservation or restoration. There is now widespread evidence that such a strategy could benefit a large proportion of wild species, provided that spared land is conserved as natural habitat (1). However, the scope for yield growth to spare land by lowering food prices and, hence, incentives for clearance (“passive” land sparing) can be undermined if lower prices stimulate demand and if higher yields raise profits, encouraging agricultural expansion and increasing the opportunity cost of conservation (2, 3). We offer a first description of four categories of “active” land-sparing mechanisms that could overcome these rebound effects by linking yield increases with habitat protection or restoration (table S1). The effectiveness, limitations, and potential for unintended consequences of these mechanisms have yet to be systematically tested, but in each case, we describe real-world interventions that illustrate how intentional links between yield increases and land sparing might be developed.

The management of crop structure: a general approach to reversing the impacts of agricultural intensification on birds?

Abstract: Agricultural intensification is accepted widely as a cause of bird population declines on farmland in Europe and North America. Although intensification is multivariate, one common theme is the impact on variation in crop structure, both within and between fields. Intensification creates simpler, more homogeneous and denser swards in both tillage crops and grassland. This influences predation risk, exposure to weather extremes and the diversity, abundance and accessibility of food. Birds trade off these pressures in different ways, so that the more uniform and dense the vegetation, the fewer the number of birds and range of species that are able to nest and forage successfully. Reversing recent trends towards dense, simplified and homogeneous swards will improve nesting and foraging habitat conditions for a wide range of species across farming systems, and may represent a cost-effective mechanism for the further improvement of agri-environment scheme options designed to assist the recovery of farmland bird populations.