Topic
Corn bunting
About: Corn bunting is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 105 publications have been published within this topic receiving 4512 citations. The topic is also known as: Emberiza calandra & Corn Bunting.
Papers published on a yearly basis
Papers
TL;DR: Recent work investigating the effects of pesticides on Yellowhammer Emberiza citrinella and Skylark Alauda arvensis during the breeding season found the probability of brood reduction in Yellowhammer was affected by the proportion of the foraging area around the nest which was sprayed with insecticide.
Abstract: Indirect effects of pesticides, operating through the food chain, have been proposed as a possible causal factor in the decline of farmland bird species. To demonstrate such a link, evidence is needed of (1) an effect of food abundance on breeding performance or survival; (2) an effect of breeding performance or survival on population change; and (3) pesticide effects on food resources, sufficient to reduce breeding performance or survival, and hence to affect the rate of population change. Evidence under all three categories is only available for one species, the Grey Partridge Perdix perdix, although data showing effects of pesticides on food resources and relationships between food resources and breeding performance are also available for some other species. This paper reports on recent work investigating the effects of pesticides on Yellowhammer Emberiza citrinella and Skylark Alauda arvensis during the breeding season. The probability of brood reduction in Yellowhammer was affected by the proportion of the foraging area around the nest which was sprayed with insecticide. No significant effects of pesticides were recorded on Skylark chick condition or growth rate, but sample sizes were small. Invertebrate food abundance affected chick condition (Skylark) and the number of chicks fledging (Yellowhammer and Corn Bunting Miliaria calandra; relationship for the latter derived from re-analysis of data from an earlier study). Other recent work is briefly reviewed and the current evidence for the indirect effects of pesticides is summarized. Significant knowledge gaps are identified and some of the issues involved in resolving these are discussed.
299 citations
TL;DR: The authors in this paper showed that grass margins and weedy winter stubbles constitute important food-rich habitats for cirl buntings and other farmland birds, and should be encouraged in future agri-environment agreements and schemes.
265 citations
TL;DR: Variation in annual survival and fledgling production per breeding attempt alone could not explain changes in abundance for at least seven species, and this may suggest that changes in post-fledging survival rates and/or the number of breeding attempts per year could have been important.
Abstract: Summary
1. Changes in agriculture have been linked to widespread declines in farmland bird populations. One approach to the identification of the causes of observed population changes is to investigate historical changes in national demographic rates.
2. We analysed the British Trust for Ornithology’s nest records database to investigate whether long-term farmland population trends could have been driven by changes in several components of the annual breeding performance of 12 granivorous bird species. Clutch size, brood size, chick : egg ratio and daily nest failure rates were analysed with respect to blocks of years during which abundance (as measured by the Common Birds Census) was increasing, stable or declining. The individual components of breeding performance were combined to provide estimates of the production of fledglings per breeding attempt.
3. Most species’ population declines were not associated with poor breeding performance per attempt. Effects of environmental change on this parameter therefore cannot be a general mechanism behind the major population declines seen.
4. A fall in linnet Carduelis cannabina fledgling production per attempt, driven primarily by increased nest failure rates during the egg period, represented the strongest evidence for an important effect of breeding performance on abundance. This change could have driven the principal population decline (1975–86) for this species.
5. Conversely, at least for the declining turtle dove Streptopelia turtur, skylark Alauda arvensis, tree sparrow Passer montanus, yellowhammer Emberiza citrinella and corn bunting Miliaria calandra, breeding performance per attempt was higher while populations declined.
6. Variation in annual survival and fledgling production per breeding attempt alone could not explain changes in abundance for at least seven species. This may suggest that changes in post-fledging survival rates and/or the number of breeding attempts per year could have been important.
7. Management to improve over-winter survival may be critical in reversing the population trends of most declining species, but such management might still best be directed at the breeding season. Post-fledging survival rates and the number of breeding attempts made within a season are little-studied demographic variables that are high priorities for future research and long-term monitoring.
195 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined spatial change in the ranges of 21 farmland bird species at the scale of 10 km squares in relation to spatial changes in agricultural land-use variables between the late 1960s and the late 1980s.
179 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the effect of wooded edges on farmland birds' diversity and abundance in Mediterranean arable farmland, using bird counts at 0, 100, 200, 300 and >300m from oak, pine and eucalyptus edges, embedded in landscapes with variable amounts and spatial configurations of forest plantations.
159 citations
Related Topics (5)
Performance Metrics
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 1 |
| 2020 | 1 |
| 2019 | 2 |
| 2018 | 2 |
| 2017 | 1 |
| 2016 | 2 |