Our rural wealth: using functional responses of native fauna to predict conservation values of agricultural landscapes

该项目的目的是开发和测试一种评估澳大利亚农业景观保护价值的新方法。它的基础是确定动物群对整个景观中本地植被的范围和模式以及农业土地利用的类型和强度的功能反应。不同的反应类型将根据物种的生态特征进行解释。我们将利用这些知识来预测鸟类和哺乳动物在三个生物区的新景观中的状况，并通过实地研究来验证预测。这种新的景观层面的方法将帮助土地管理者评估目前的农业环境，以及评估未来土地利用变化的情景。

The aim of this project is to develop and test a new approach for assessing the conservation value of agricultural landscapes in Australia. It is based on identifying the functional responses of the fauna to the extent and pattern of native vegetation and types and intensity of agricultural land-uses in whole landscapes. Different response types will be interpreted in relation to ecological characteristics of species. We will use this knowledge to predict the status of birds and mammals in novel landscapes in three bioregions, and test the predictions by field studies. This new landscape-level approach will help land managers assess present agricultural environments as well as evaluate scenarios for future changes in land-use.