Study

Ecological effectiveness of agri-environment schemes in different agricultural landscapes in The Netherlands

  • Published source details Kleijn D., Berendse F., Smit R., Gilissen N., Smit J., Brak B. & Groeneveld R. (2004) Ecological effectiveness of agri-environment schemes in different agricultural landscapes in The Netherlands. Conservation Biology, 18, 775-786.

Actions

This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

Action Category

Reduce management intensity on permanent grasslands for birds

Action Link
Bird Conservation

Reduce management intensity on permanent grasslands (several interventions at once)

Action Link
Farmland Conservation
  1. Reduce management intensity on permanent grasslands for birds

    Further analysis of the same data used in Kleijn et al. 2001 (Kleijn et al. 2004), found that wading birds were less abundant on fields under meadow bird agreements (average of seven birds and 1.3 territories on agreement fields vs. 12 and 2.1 on conventional fields), whilst meadow songbirds were more abundant on meadow bird agreement fields, when analysed as a 12.5 ha scale (9.9 birds/plot on agreement fields vs. 7.7 on conventional fields). Duck and non-meadow bird breeding densities did not differ between management types at either the field, or 12.5 ha scale.

     

  2. Reduce management intensity on permanent grasslands (several interventions at once)

    Further analysis of data (Kleijn et al. 2004) from the same replicated paired site comparison in the Netherlands as (Kleijn et al. 2001) found that meadow songbirds, bees (Apidae) and hoverflies (Syrphidae) were more abundant on fields with management agreements to benefit plants or birds (only fields with bird agreements analysed for birds). Wading birds were less abundant on 20 fields with meadow bird agreements (average seven birds and 1.3 territories/field compared to 12 birds and 2.1 territories on 20 conventional fields). Meadow songbirds were more abundant on agreement fields at a 12.5 ha scale (9.9 birds/12.5 ha plot surrounding the field, compared to 7.7 on conventional fields). Duck and non-meadow bird breeding densities did not differ between management types at either the field, or 12.5 ha scale. There were 10-15 hoverfly species and 1.5-4.0 bee species/field on fields with agreements, compared to 8-13 hoverfly species and 0.5-2.0 bee species on conventional fields. Hoverfly abundance was also higher (50-125 hoverflies/ agreement field vs 50-60 hoverflies/ conventional field). Bee abundance was higher on agreement fields for two out of three soil types (3-7 vs 1-8 bees/field). Numbers of plant species were not higher on agreement fields (approximately 14-16 plant species/20 m2 on fields under botanical agreements vs 14-15/20 m2 on conventional fields).

Output references
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