Changing land management of lowland wet grasslands of the UK: impacts on snipe abundance and habitat quality
Changing land management of lowland wet grasslands of the UK: impacts on snipe abundance and habitat quality
复制标题
改变英国低地湿草原的土地管理：对鹬丰度和栖息地质量的影响
DOI：
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发表时间：
2008
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
K. Smith
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
J. Smart;A. Amar;M. O'Brien;P. Grice;K. Smith
在英格兰低地潮湿草原上繁殖的鹬鸡（Snipe Gallinago gallinago），至少自20世纪70年代以来，其数量和分布都经历了广泛而急剧的下降。有许多潜在的驱动因素的下降，但减少栖息地质量，土地管理的驱动下，往往被认为是一个促成因素，在历史上下降的繁殖涉禽。目前，鹬类繁殖仅限于自然保护区和环境敏感区等少数重点地区，对涉禽繁殖实施管理。平均而言，即使在这些关键地区，人口也在继续下降，尽管人口趋势在1990年代初至2006年期间从下降98%到增加61%不等。我们研究了鹬种群趋势的区域变化与土壤条件、其他栖息地特征和土地管理之间的关系。沙锥鸟更有可能在土壤条件潮湿和柔软的田野里生存。与20世纪90年代初相比，现在的田地更潮湿、更柔软，管理影响了这些条件。土壤柔软度随着放牧压力的降低和地表淹水的增加而增加。土壤含水量随地表淹水而增加，有机质土壤含水量较高。田间条件的变化与放牧压力的降低和地表洪水的增加是一致的。尽管栖息地的条件正在改变的方式，应该是有益的鹬，数量继续下降。因此，这是不太可能的栖息地条件的措施，在这里检查已经下降的驱动程序和其他因素必须参与。研究工作现在应该集中在减少的替代解释，例如，栖息地质量的其他关键方面的变化，如猎物丰度，或鹬生产力或死亡率的变化。
Snipe Gallinago gallinago breeding on lowland wet grasslands in England have undergone widespread and dramatic declines in abundance and distribution since at least the 1970s. There are many potential drivers of the decline but reductions in habitat quality, driven by land management, are often proposed as a contributing factor in the historical declines of breeding waders. Breeding snipe are now restricted to a few key places such as nature reserves and environmentally sensitive areas where management for breeding waders is implemented. On average, populations have continued to decline, even in these key areas, though population trends vary from a decline of 98% to an increase of 61% between the early 1990s and 2006. We examined the relationship between regional variation in snipe population trends and soil conditions, other habitat features and land management. Snipe were more likely to persist in fields where the soil conditions were wet and soft. Fields are wetter and softer now than in the early 1990s and management influenced these conditions. Soil softness increased with decreasing grazing pressure and increasing surface flooding. Soil moisture increased with surface flooding and was higher in organic soils. Changes in field condition were consistent with decreases in grazing pressure and increases in surface flooding. In spite of habitat condition being altered in a way that should have been beneficial to snipe, the numbers have continued to decline. Thus, it is unlikely that the measures of habitat condition examined here have been the driver of the decline and other factors must be involved. Research efforts should now focus on alternative explanations of the decline, for example, changes in other key aspects of habitat quality such as prey abundance, or changes in snipe productivity or mortality.