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For the first time, all of the farmland bird research has been pulled together to develop a minimum package that arable and mixed farmers could use to reverse the declines of farmland birds using Entry Level Stewardship (ELS) or the voluntary measures under the Campaign for the Farmed Environment (CFE). The package, per 100 ha of arable farmland, is as follows:
- Wild Bird Seed Mixture on 2 hectares or ELS Over-wintered Stubble on 5 hectares (10 hectares of stubble would be required if either a pre-harvest desiccant or post-harvest herbicide is used)
- 20 skylark plots in winter cereals, or a fallow plot or extended winter stubble (new options coming into ELS in 2010) on 1 hectare
- 1 hectare used to create a network of insect-rich habitats across the farm using one or more of the following options:
· Unfertilised conservation headlands
· Unharvested conservation headlands
· Uncropped cultivated margins
· Undersown spring cereals
· Pollen and nectar mixtures
· Flower-rich margins (not currently an option under ELS)
The following additional advice on best management will enhance the delivery of the package for farmland birds:
- Create the insect-rich habitats as 6 m strips alongside field margins and beetle banks to ensure a spread across the farm
- The conservation headlands and uncropped cultivated margin options are the most beneficial insect-rich options for birds, and should be used in preference to the others in the list wherever possible
- For wild bird seed mixtures, use spring-sown mixtures wherever possible to provide both seed and cover every winter
- If autumn establishment of wild bird seed mixtures is required, so seed only available 1 year in 2, or 2 years in 3, increase the area accordingly, so that at least 2 hectares of seeding crop is available per 100 hectares of arable farmland
The package was developed by a partnership of Natural England, RSPB, the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust and FWAG, and has been adopted by the CFE. It will contribute between 8 and 18 points of the 30 points per hectare required to enter ELS. It will involve taking between 1.03% and 4% of arable land out of production.
The scientific background:
The evidence for the scale of seed food required came from research by the British Trust for Ornithology, which found that skylarks and yellowhammers declined most seriously in areas where no over-wintered stubbles were found. With roughly 10% of land in over-wintered stubbles, the declines were much smaller, and if 20% of the land was in over-wintered stubbles, populations were predicted to increase (Gillings et al 2005). This was based on conventional stubbles of various types. ELS stubbles, with no pre-harvest applications and kept until 14 February, hold greater densities of wintering bird numbers than conventional winter stubbles, and so 5% of arable land in ELS stubbles (which would be equivalent to 6 points per hectare across the whole holding) is expected to do the job of 10 to 20% of arable land in conventional stubbles. Wild bird seed mixtures are estimated to hold 8 times the density of seed-eating birds through the winter of conventional stubbles, so 10 to 20 hectares of stubble equates to roughly 2 hectares of seed mixture (BTO, 2008).
It is estimated that 2 skylark plots per hectare on 10-20% of winter cereals would be sufficient to halt the decline of skylarks in England. The partner organisations decided that 10 hectares of good management of winter cereals (with 20 skylark plots) per 100 hectares of arable land would roughly meet this target. As an alternative, one of the new fallow options could be used: one hectare of the fallow plot option could be managed to provide nesting habitat for lapwings, yellow wagtails and skylarks and also provide food for a wide range of species (Sheldon, et al 2007); or one hectare of extended winter stubble would provide spring and summer foraging habitat for farmland birds.
The scale of insect-rich habitats required is less well understood. Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust research suggests that 3% of land would be required to reverse the decline of grey partridges (Aebischer and Ewald, 2004). Given the points threshold of ELS, this scale of delivery would be too much to ask of all ELS agreement holders, but 1% as field margin strips (eg 6m wide) creating a network of habitats around the farm would be practical, and it is anticipated that the habitat created for seed food would also provide relatively insect-rich habitats too. For the benefit of species such as the grey partridge, low-input options such as conservation headlands, and cultivated uncropped margins would be preferable to pollen and nectar mixtures, which are generally too dense for partridges to forage in successfully.
Where Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) can be used, farmers looking to help farmland birds are being asked to do a complete package using 7-10% of their farm, including at least:
- 2% of wild bird seed mixture or 5-10% over-wintered stubble
- 2-3% insect-rich habitats, from conservation headlands, low-input spring cereals, uncropped cultivated margins, pollen and nectar mixtures, floristically-enhanced margins, beetle banks and field corners
- Skylark plots (2/ha) on 10-20% of winter cereals
- A 2 ha fallow plot for lapwings per 100 ha UAA where appropriate
In target areas where this is being promoted by conservation advisers there is a high take-up of HLS on this basis. A combination of this and a high take-up of the ELS Farmland Bird Package would reverse the declines of farmland birds
References:
Aebischer, N.J. & Ewald, J.A.(2004) Managing the UK Grey Partridge Perdix perdix recovery: population change, reproduction, habitat and shooting. Ibis 146 (S2): 181–191.
BTO (2008) Defra Science and Research Report BD1640: Zero rate of set-aside evaluating the potential impact on farmland birds and the implications for ELS uptake an related agri-environment measures.
Gillings S, S.E. Newson, D.G. Noble and J.A. Vickery (2005) Winter availability of cereal stubbles attracts declining farmland birds and positively influences breeding population trends, Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 272 (2005), pp. 733–739.
Sheldon RD, Chaney K and Tyler GA (2007) Factors affecting nest survival of Northern Lapwings Vanellus vanellus in arable farmland: an agri-environment scheme prescription can enhance nest survival: Capsule A spring/summer fallow agri-environment prescription improved Lapwing nest survival. Bird Study vol. 54, Number 2, 1 July 2007 , pp. 168-175(8)
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