| 1. |
- Josefsson, Jonas, et al.
(författare)
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Improving scientific rigour in conservation evaluations and a plea deal for transparency on potential biases
- 2020
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Ingår i: Conservation Letters. - : Wiley. - 1755-263X. ; 13:5
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- The delivery of rigorous and unbiased evidence on the effects of interventions lay at the heart of the scientific method. Here we examine scientific papers evaluating agri-environment schemes, the principal instrument to mitigate farmland biodiversity declines worldwide. Despite previous warnings about rudimentary study designs in this field, we found that the majority of studies published between 2008 and 2017 still lack robust study designs to strictly evaluate intervention effects. Potential sources of bias that arise from the correlative nature are rarely mentioned, and results are still promoted by using a causal language. This lack of robust study designs likely results from poor integration of research and policy, while the erroneous use of causal language and an unwillingness to discuss bias may stem from publication pressures. We conclude that scientific reporting and discussion of study limitations in intervention research must improve and propose some practices toward this goal.
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| 2. |
- Kacergyte, Ineta, et al.
(författare)
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Evaluating created wetlands for bird diversity and reproductive success
- 2021
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Ingår i: Biological Conservation. - : Elsevier BV. - 0006-3207 .- 1873-2917. ; 257
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Wetland creation is a common conservation practice to mitigate biodiversity loss, caused by global wetland destruction. Despite this, there is a lack of large-scale evaluations of how created wetland characteristics and landscape context relate to bird diversity and reproductive success. We inventoried 89 created wetlands (0.2-20 ha) in central Sweden to investigate which local and landscape components were associated with breeding wetland bird species richness, pair abundance and reproductive success. Wetland size was positively associated with species richness, pair abundance and chick abundance. However, several small (1 ha) wetlands taken together were similar to or exceeded individual large wetlands of similar total wetland area, in terms of species richness, pair abundance, and chicks produced. While species richness showed a clear negative relationship with the proportion of the adjacent 50 m buffer composed of forest, pair abundance was positively related to the proportion of flooded grassland area and negatively related to the proportion of emergent water vegetation. Reproductive success measures showed no clear relationships to local habitat characteristics but tended to increase with a decreasing forest at the landscape scale. Our results suggest that breeding wetland bird populations could benefit from creating wetlands with a high flooded area, continuous management to minimise both the area of emergent water vegetation and the establishment of shrubs and trees in the immediate surroundings. We also suggest a practice of creating mainly small wetlands with a few larger ones to facilitate breeding wetland bird communities at the regional scale (gamma diversity).
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| 3. |
- Kotowska, Dorota, et al.
(författare)
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The use of socio-economy in species distribution modelling: Features of rural societies improve predictions of barn owl occurrence
- 2020
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Ingår i: Science of the Total Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 741
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Variation of habitats and resources important for farmland birds seems to be only partly captured by ordinary statistics on land-use and agricultural production. For instance, densities of rodents being prey for owls and raptors or structures of rural architecture providing nesting sites for many species are central for bird diversity but are not reported in any official statistics. Thus, modelling species distributions, population abundance and trends of farmland birds may miss important predictive habitat elements. Here, we involve local socio-economy factors as a source of additional information on rural habitat to test whether it improves predictions of barn owl occurrence in 2768 churches across Poland. Barn owls occurred in 778 churches and seemed to prefer old churches made of brick located in regions with a milder climate, higher share of arable land and pastures, low road density and low levels of light pollution. Including data on local unemployment, the proportion of elder citizens, commune income per citizen, the share of citizens with high education and share of farmers among working population improved the model substantially and some of these variables predicted barn owl occurrence better than several land-use and climate data. Barn owls were more likely to occur in areas with high unemployment, a higher proportion of older citizens in a local population and higher share of farmers among working population. Importantly, the socio-economy variables were correlated with the barn owl occurrence despite all climatic, infrastructure and land-use data were present in the model. We conclude that the socio-economy of local socie-ties may add important but overlooked information that links to spatial variation in farmland biodiversity. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 4. |
- Rosin, Zuzanna
(författare)
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Cepaea nemoralis (Gastropoda: Pulmonata) in Poland: patterns of variation in a range-expanding species
- 2019
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Ingår i: Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. - 0024-4066 .- 1095-8312. ; 127, s. 1-11
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A countrywide data set of 1048 samples of the European land snail Cepaea nemoralis (L.) from Poland was assembled from both published and unpublished sources. Analyses of shell colour and banding polymorphism revealed distinctive patterns of variation. While the frequency of brown shells showed a clear geographical pattern related to climate, other morphs showed no such clear trends. Variation among populations was great, but little of this could be accounted for by variation among regions. Spatial autocorrelation was generally restricted to very short distances, of the order of 20 km or less. Variation with habitat was found in the form of an excess of brown shells in shaded habitats and an excess of yellow and yellow effectively unbanded shells in open habitats, although this was not universal. The data suggest that cases of long-distance, passive dispersal followed by more local spread account for much of the variation, and that strong selection related to habitat may be obscured by different sources of populations within a few kilometres of each other. The data are now available to track changes over time.
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| 5. |
- Rosin, Zuzanna, et al.
(författare)
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Reduced biodiversity in modernized villages: A conflict between sustainable development goals
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Applied Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0021-8901 .- 1365-2664. ; 57, s. 467-475
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Despite large conservation efforts to halt the loss of farmland biodiversity in Europe, negative population trends are still observed, especially for common species. Old villages and human settlements are biodiversity hotspots and important breeding habitats for farmland birds, but recent requirements for energy saving measures and improved living comfort have changed their architecture and habitats. Consequently, modernization of villages may negatively affect bird diversity due to the loss of nesting and foraging sites. We investigated how the abundance and diversity of birds breeding in 104 Polish villages varied in relation to the degree of modernization as estimated by the proportion of new and renovated homesteads. Abundance of building-nesting species, but not tree-nesting species, declined by 50% across a gradient of old to highly modernized villages. The contribution of new versus renovated houses to the observed decline was similar. Synthesis and applications. Rural modernization may have a dramatic effect on abundance of birds nesting on buildings, thus may be an important and overlooked contributor to farmland bird population declines in Europe. Villages and rural properties fall outside of current conservation policy as they are neither protected areas nor agricultural lands (where agri-environmental schemes can be applied). The observed conflict between sustainability goals such as increased building energy efficiency and biodiversity conservation suggests that sustainable rural development should better link modernization with conservation measures, for example, by constructing nesting sites when renovating and building new houses. The challenge is to design modern buildings that are both energy-efficient and biodiversity-friendly to generally improve quality of life for rural communities and to halt or reduce farmland bird declines in rural landscapes. Designers and architects can find inspiration from traditional architecture and add a variety of nest-box types.
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| 6. |
- Rosin, Zuzanna
(författare)
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Shell colour, temperature, (micro)habitat structure and predator pressure affect the behaviour of Cepaea nemoralis
- 2018
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Ingår i: Naturwissenschaften. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-1042 .- 1432-1904. ; 105
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Although shell colour polymorphism of the land snail Cepaea nemoralis is a well-known phenomenon, proximate and ultimate factors driving its evolution remain uncertain. Polymorphic species show variation in behavioural responses to selective forces. Therefore, we estimated effects of various environmental factors (temperature, humidity, food availability, (micro)habitat structure and predatory pressure) on behavioural response (frequency of locomotion, climbing and hiding) of C. nemoralis morphs, in experimental and natural conditions. In the experimental part of study, the frequency of locomotion was negatively affected by temperature and the presence of food and positively influenced by the presence of light. Morphs significantly differed in behavioural responses to environmental variability. Pink mid-banded and yellow five-banded morphs climbed less often and hide in shelter more often than yellow and pink unbanded individuals when temperature was low and food was absent. Snails fed most often at moderate temperature compared to low and high temperatures. Field investigations partially confirmed differences among morphs in frequency of climbing, but not in terms of probability of hiding in sheltered sites. In natural colonies, temperature and (micro)habitat structure significantly affected frequency of climbing as well as hiding in shelter. Snails more often hid in sheltered sites where thrushes preyed on Cepaea. Tendency of unbanded morphs to climb trees may have evolved under avian predatory pressure as thrushes forage on a ground. Tendency of banded morphs to hide in sheltered sites may reflect prey preferences for cryptic background. The results implicate that differential behaviour of C. nemoralis morphs compensate for their morphological and physiological limitations of adaptation to habitat.
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| 7. |
- Rosin, Zuzanna
(författare)
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Small things are important: the value of singular point elements for birds in agricultural landscapes
- 2021
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Ingår i: Biological Reviews. - : Wiley. - 1464-7931 .- 1469-185X. ; 96, s. 1386-1403
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Farmland birds belong to the most endangered group of vertebrates in Europe. They are an important component of farmland biodiversity considering the numerous functions they perform (e.g. seed dispersal, improving germination, increasing gene flow, nutrient recycling, and pest control). Therefore, their decline imposes substantial risks on agricultural ecosystems. In general, farmland bird conservation includes land-use and management alterations leading to less-intensive farming and land-sparing for breeding habitats (e.g. agri-environment-climate schemes, and organic farming). However, theoretical concepts describing farmland biodiversity maintenance and applied conservation measures usually ignore the role of singular, often very small, natural or man-made elements in an agricultural landscape. These elements play a role in the populations of certain species, their biology and in the general species richness of farmland. Furthermore, the importance of these elements has never been empirically tested, which means that conservationists and practitioners are not aware of their measurable value for birds. Herein, we define and identify singular point elements in the agricultural landscape (SPELs) which are potentially important for breeding farmland birds. We also describe each SPEL and evaluate its importance for birds in farmland based on a systematic review of the available literature. Using a horizon-scanning technique, we then polled field ornithologists about their personal observations of birds in relation to SPELs and the evaluation of the potential roles of such structures for birds. We identified 17 SPELs that vary in naturalness and age: singular trees, singular shrubs, erratic boulders, puddles, electricity pylons, wind turbines, spiritual sites, hunting platforms, fence and border posts, wells, road signs, scarecrows, piles of manure, piles of brushwood/branches, piles of stones/debris, piles of lime, and haystacks. Analysis of the literature revealed knowledge gaps, because some SPELs are frequently mentioned in ecological studies (e.g. trees, shrubs, pylons), but others such as spiritual sites, stones, hunting platforms, wells, road signs, or piles of lime are ignored. Despite the fact that some authors incorporate the effects of some SPELs in their studies, little research to date has aimed to assess the impact of various SPELs on farmland bird species numbers and distribution. Horizon scanning revealed that ornithologists often observe birds on various SPELs and thus, attribute to SPELs many functions that are important for maintaining bird populations. Horizon scanning also highlighted the importance of SPELs for many declining bird species and suggested possible mitigation of negative changes in the agricultural landscape by retaining SPELs within fields. We suggest that a better understanding of the role of SPELs for farmland birds is required. We also recommend that SPELs are considered as a potential tool for the conservation of birds, and existing conservation programs such as agri-environment-climate schemes and organic farming should be updated accordingly. Finally, we suggest that SPELs are included in predictive models that evaluate habitat suitability for farmland biodiversity.
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| 8. |
- Rosin, Zuzanna
(författare)
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Thrush anvils are calcium source hotspots for many bird species
- 2019
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Ingår i: Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0024-4066 .- 1095-8312. ; 128, s. 603-610
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Calcium is one of the most important elements determining reproductive success in birds, and snail shells are a well-known source of calcium for egg-laying females. In Europe, song thrushes, Turdus philomelos, break snails open at locations called anvils, eat the soft parts and leave the broken shells. Based on observational studies in 2011-2017 in western Poland, we showed that thrush anvils were visited by 54 other bird species (mainly smaller species) that collected the broken shell fragments. The frequency of visits to anvils differed among species and changed over the course of the breeding season, but anvils were especially used by females during the pre-laying period. Our study is the first description of such widespread exploitation of thrush anvils by other bird species, and we think that this phenomenon has been overlooked owing to the difficulties in recording anvils located, for example, on single small stones, stumps of felled trees and man-made objects such as glass bottles. We conclude that thrush anvils can be an important source of calcium for many bird species that adapt behaviourally to use these places. Hence, anvils should be recognized as localized hotspots for bird diversity.
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| 9. |
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| 10. |
- Rosin, Zuzanna, et al.
(författare)
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Village modernization may contribute more to farmland bird declines than agricultural intensification
- 2021
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Ingår i: Conservation Letters. - : Wiley. - 1755-263X. ; 14
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The central tenet of European farmland ecology is that agricultural intensification during the 20th century was largely responsible for dramatic declines in species abundances. However, during this time, human rural settlements were also undergoing radical changes through modernization, with undocumented biodiversity impacts in this important wildlife habitat. We performed the first ever large-scale study to disentangle the impact of these simultaneous processes on farmland bird diversity in 104 Polish villages. We show that modernized villages and their surrounding agricultural fields had 50-60% fewer birds than those in and around comparable older villages. The relative contribution of modernization versus agricultural intensification to predicted bird declines was 88% versus 12% for bird communities in villages and 56% versus 44% in surrounding croplands, with considerable variation among ecological species subgroups. These results challenge our current understanding of agricultural ecosystem ecology and how best to implement conservation measures costing billions of euros annually.
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| 11. |
- Rosin, Zuzanna, et al.
(författare)
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Villages and their old farmsteads are hot spots of bird diversity in agricultural landscapes
- 2016
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Ingår i: Journal of Applied Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0021-8901 .- 1365-2664. ; 53, s. 1363-1372
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- 1. To counteract the decline of farmland biodiversity in Europe, it is crucial to recognize habitats that are hot spots. Old rural settlements (e.g. villages) may be such important habitats, although these presumably biodiversity-rich habitats have received little attention. Socioeconomic changes in central-eastern Europe since 1989 mean that old homesteads and farmsteads are being replaced by new ones.2. We investigated bird species composition, richness and abundance at three spatial scales (single rural property, village and landscape) in the farmland of Poland to test: (i) their association with age (built before vs. after 1989) and type of property (farmstead vs. homestead), (ii) their relationship with the increasing share of new homesteads at the village scale and (iii) the difference in diversity between the village environment and four other environments (open fields, forest field ecotones, forests and towns) at the landscape scale.3. At the single property scale, 15 out of 33 species preferred old farmsteads, while only one species preferred new homesteads. Old properties hosted a higher number of species and individuals than new ones, and farmsteads hosted a higher number of species than homesteads.4. At the village scale, bird species richness and abundance were markedly negatively associated with the proportion of new homesteads. At the landscape scale, species composition differed between villages and the other environments, and villages had the highest average bird abundance.5. Synthesis and applications. Rural villages and old farmsteads are important habitats for many farmland birds; thus, the increasing number of new homesteads not associated with farmland production will likely lead to a substantial further decline of farmland bird numbers and biodiversity. To counteract this process, we recommend (i) implementing educational programmes to develop rural residents' awareness about the importance of farmsteads and homesteads for biodiversity, (ii) including villages and farmsteads and consideration of bird friendly habitats within these as part of EU conservation policies and (iii) compensating for changes in the structure of rural villages by increasing the amount of similar alternative habitats in the surrounding landscape.
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