The environmental impacts of biomass crops: use by birds of miscanthus in summer and winter in southwestern England
The environmental impacts of biomass crops: use by birds of miscanthus in summer and winter in southwestern England
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DOI：
10.1111/j.1474-919x.2010.01027.x
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发表时间：
2010-06
期刊：
影响因子：
2.1
通讯作者：
R. Sage;M. Cunningham;A. Haughton;Mark Mallott;David A. Bohan;A. Riche;A. Karp
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
R. Sage;M. Cunningham;A. Haughton;Mark Mallott;David A. Bohan;A. Riche;A. Karp
我们比较了鸟类在一组既定的和管理良好的芒（芒x teus）领域在萨默塞特和东德文郡，英格兰西南部，短轮伐期矮林（SRC）杨柳，耕地作物和草地在两个冬天和一个夏天。早春切割后，19芒草领域增长更高，最初产生更大的覆盖面和杂草比SRC少。作为残茬在5月，芒包含大致相似的物种在类似的密度耕地和草地比较地块。到7月，在2米高，芒草举行了更高密度的鸟类，但较少的物种，其中大部分的林地和灌木丛的特点。SRC以前被认为是许多鸟类的有益作物，总是包含比芒草更多的物种和个体。在整个两个冬天的每一个，15芒草地块仍然未收获，并包含更多的木材/灌木物种，如黑鸟Turdus merula，山雀，Reed Buntings Emberiza schoeniclus和Woodcock Scolopax rusticola比比较地块，其中包含更多的乌鸦和云雀Alauda arvensis等。类似的总体平均密度的鸟类在芒草和比较地块掩盖了相对较低的密度方差芒草和非常高的方差比较地块。未收割的芒草作物种植的栖息地类型的地方，支持越冬鸟群将取代这些羊群。在冬季，有开阔斑块的芒草种植园吸引了更多的雀类和涉禽。之前在英国对芒草中的鸟类进行的两项研究发现，夏季和冬季的物种和个体都比我们多。这两项研究都记录了高水平的杂草和零星的作物生长。在此之前的工作的背景下，我们的数据表明，鸟类使用芒草在夏季和冬季可能是可变的，受区域，杂草，作物结构和斑块。虽然SRC在英格兰的大规模种植可能会对一系列常见的农田和林地鸟类产生积极的整体影响，但我们的数据表明，英格兰西南部的芒草可能会产生近似中性的影响。然而，在种植任何一种作物时，一些开放农田的专业物种可能会丢失。
We compared birds in a group of established and well-managed miscanthus (Miscanthus x giganteus) fields in Somerset and East Devon, southwestern England, with plots of short rotation coppice (SRC) willow, arable crops and grassland in two winters and one summer. Following early spring cutting, 19 miscanthus fields grew taller, initially produced greater cover and were less weedy than SRC. As stubble in May, the miscanthus contained broadly similar species at similar densities to arable and grassland comparison plots. By July, at 2-m-tall, miscanthus held higher densities of birds but of fewer species, most of them characteristic of woodland and scrub. SRC, previously identified as being a beneficial crop for many birds, always contained more species and individuals than miscanthus. Throughout each of two winters, 15 miscanthus plots remained unharvested and contained more wood/scrub species such as Blackbirds Turdus merula, tits, Reed Buntings Emberiza schoeniclus and Woodcock Scolopax rusticola than the comparison plots, which held more corvids and Skylarks Alauda arvensis amongst others. Similar overall mean densities of birds in the miscanthus and the comparison plots masked relatively low density variance in miscanthus and very high variance in the comparison plots. Unharvested miscanthus crops grown in place of habitat types supporting flocks of wintering birds would displace these flocks. Miscanthus plantations with open patches attracted more finches and waders in winter. The two previous studies of birds in miscanthus in the UK found more species and more individuals than we did in summer and winter. Both these studies documented high levels of weediness and patchy crop growth. In the context of this previous work our data suggest that bird use of miscanthus in summer and winter is likely to be variable, affected by region, weediness, crop structure and patchiness. While large-scale cropping of SRC in England is likely to have a positive overall impact on a suite of common farmland and woodland birds, our data suggest that miscanthus in the southwest of England may have an approximately neutral effect. However, some open farmland specialist species may be lost when planting either crop.