Summary: | The Northern Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) is one of many farmland birds that have been suffering from population declines as a result of agricultural intensification over the past few decades. Through the use of ringing- and recovery data I have looked at the changes in the Norwegian population of Lapwings through time. Relating the changes to the changing circumstances surrounding the recovery of ringed Lapwings, I found that while the majority of recovered Lapwings previously were recovered shot, this is a less prevalent circumstance in recent decades. Using the ringing- and recovery data I have also created a Bayesian model for mortality, and in accordance with studies done in other countries I found that mortality has remained quite stable through time, thus not being the main reason for the population decline. I have also looked at habitat selection through a census study of Lapwings in different types of farmland habitats the region of Jæren, Rogaland the spring of 2013. Censusing a total of 192 farmland fields shared among 17 transects, observing in total 199 Lapwings, I did not find a statistically significant relationship between habitat selection and availability. Master i Biologi MAMN-BIO BIO399
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