Identifying effective actions to guide volunteer-based and nationwide conservation efforts for a ground-nesting farmland bird
Modern farming practices threaten wildlife in different ways, and failure to identify the complexity of multiple threats acting in synergy may result in ineffective management. To protect ground-nesting birds in farmland, monitoring and mitigating impacts of mechanical harvesting is crucial. Here, w...
Published in: | Journal of Applied Ecology |
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Main Authors: | , , , |
Other Authors: | , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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Wiley/Blackwell
2018
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10138/232578 |
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ftunivhelsihelda:oai:helda.helsinki.fi:10138/232578 |
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record_format |
openpolar |
institution |
Open Polar |
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HELDA – University of Helsinki Open Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftunivhelsihelda |
language |
English |
topic |
active management agricultural intensification Circus pygargus citizen science evidence-based conservation nest predation raptors MONTAGUS HARRIER VANELLUS-VANELLUS INTENSIFICATION PREDATION BIODIVERSITY POPULATIONS PROTECTION MANAGEMENT LANDSCAPE EXCLUSION 1181 Ecology evolutionary biology |
spellingShingle |
active management agricultural intensification Circus pygargus citizen science evidence-based conservation nest predation raptors MONTAGUS HARRIER VANELLUS-VANELLUS INTENSIFICATION PREDATION BIODIVERSITY POPULATIONS PROTECTION MANAGEMENT LANDSCAPE EXCLUSION 1181 Ecology evolutionary biology Santangeli, Andrea Arroyo, Beatriz Millon, Alexandre Bretagnolle, Vincent Identifying effective actions to guide volunteer-based and nationwide conservation efforts for a ground-nesting farmland bird |
topic_facet |
active management agricultural intensification Circus pygargus citizen science evidence-based conservation nest predation raptors MONTAGUS HARRIER VANELLUS-VANELLUS INTENSIFICATION PREDATION BIODIVERSITY POPULATIONS PROTECTION MANAGEMENT LANDSCAPE EXCLUSION 1181 Ecology evolutionary biology |
description |
Modern farming practices threaten wildlife in different ways, and failure to identify the complexity of multiple threats acting in synergy may result in ineffective management. To protect ground-nesting birds in farmland, monitoring and mitigating impacts of mechanical harvesting is crucial. Here, we use 6years of data from a nationwide volunteer-based monitoring scheme of the Montagu's harrier, a ground-nesting raptor, in French farmlands. We assess the effectiveness of alternative nest protection measures and map their potential benefit to the species. We show that unprotected nests in cultivated land are strongly negatively affected by harvesting and thus require active management. Further, we show that protection from harvesting alone (e.g. by leaving a small unharvested buffer around the nest) is impaired by post-harvest predation at nests that become highly conspicuous after harvest. Measures that simultaneously protect from harvesting and predation (by adding a fence around the nest) significantly enhance nest productivity. The map of expected gain from nest protection in relation to available volunteers' workforce pinpoints large areas of high expected gain from nest protection that are not matched by equally high workforce availability. This mismatch suggests that the impact of nest protection can be further improved by increasing volunteer efforts in key areas where they are low relative to the expected gain they could have.Synthesis and applications. This study shows that synergistic interplay of multiple factors (e.g. mechanical harvesting and predation) may completely undermine the success of well-intentioned conservation efforts. However, identifying areas where the greatest expected gains can be achieved relative to effort expended can minimize the risk of wasted volunteer actions. Overall, this study underscores the importance of citizen science for collecting large-scale data useful for producing science and ultimately informs large-scale evidence-based conservation actions within an adaptive ... |
author2 |
Finnish Museum of Natural History Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Biosciences C-BIG Conservation Biology Informatics Group Centre of Excellence in Metapopulation Research |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Santangeli, Andrea Arroyo, Beatriz Millon, Alexandre Bretagnolle, Vincent |
author_facet |
Santangeli, Andrea Arroyo, Beatriz Millon, Alexandre Bretagnolle, Vincent |
author_sort |
Santangeli, Andrea |
title |
Identifying effective actions to guide volunteer-based and nationwide conservation efforts for a ground-nesting farmland bird |
title_short |
Identifying effective actions to guide volunteer-based and nationwide conservation efforts for a ground-nesting farmland bird |
title_full |
Identifying effective actions to guide volunteer-based and nationwide conservation efforts for a ground-nesting farmland bird |
title_fullStr |
Identifying effective actions to guide volunteer-based and nationwide conservation efforts for a ground-nesting farmland bird |
title_full_unstemmed |
Identifying effective actions to guide volunteer-based and nationwide conservation efforts for a ground-nesting farmland bird |
title_sort |
identifying effective actions to guide volunteer-based and nationwide conservation efforts for a ground-nesting farmland bird |
publisher |
Wiley/Blackwell |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10138/232578 |
genre |
Vanellus vanellus |
genre_facet |
Vanellus vanellus |
op_relation |
10.1111/1365-2664.12445 We thank the thousands of volunteers and farmers who have been helping and collaborating on this study, but more particularly J.-L. Bourrioux, T. Printemps and B. van Hecke for data and network management of the French Harriers programme and K. LeRest for GIS assistance and geostatistics. LPO Mission Rapaces (previously FIR) initiated and promoted for the last 40 years the conservation of harriers in France through volunteer-based programmes, which are now integrated and coordinated in the French Harrier Network. We also thank R. Fuller, A. Tulloch and M. Gruebler for insightful comments that greatly helped to improve this paper. A.S. was supported by the Finnish School in Wildlife Biology, Conservation and Management (LUOVA) and by the Kone Foundation. Santangeli , A , Arroyo , B , Millon , A & Bretagnolle , V 2015 , ' Identifying effective actions to guide volunteer-based and nationwide conservation efforts for a ground-nesting farmland bird ' , Journal of Applied Ecology , vol. 52 , no. 4 , pp. 1082-1091 . https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.12445 84948676679 7d7a4787-893e-4674-87fc-8709fef9b850 http://hdl.handle.net/10138/232578 000358004300031 |
op_rights |
cc_by_nc_nd openAccess info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
container_title |
Journal of Applied Ecology |
container_volume |
52 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
1082 |
op_container_end_page |
1091 |
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1787429201716969472 |
spelling |
ftunivhelsihelda:oai:helda.helsinki.fi:10138/232578 2024-01-07T09:47:13+01:00 Identifying effective actions to guide volunteer-based and nationwide conservation efforts for a ground-nesting farmland bird Santangeli, Andrea Arroyo, Beatriz Millon, Alexandre Bretagnolle, Vincent Finnish Museum of Natural History Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Biosciences C-BIG Conservation Biology Informatics Group Centre of Excellence in Metapopulation Research 2018-02-19T12:35:00Z 10 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/10138/232578 eng eng Wiley/Blackwell 10.1111/1365-2664.12445 We thank the thousands of volunteers and farmers who have been helping and collaborating on this study, but more particularly J.-L. Bourrioux, T. Printemps and B. van Hecke for data and network management of the French Harriers programme and K. LeRest for GIS assistance and geostatistics. LPO Mission Rapaces (previously FIR) initiated and promoted for the last 40 years the conservation of harriers in France through volunteer-based programmes, which are now integrated and coordinated in the French Harrier Network. We also thank R. Fuller, A. Tulloch and M. Gruebler for insightful comments that greatly helped to improve this paper. A.S. was supported by the Finnish School in Wildlife Biology, Conservation and Management (LUOVA) and by the Kone Foundation. Santangeli , A , Arroyo , B , Millon , A & Bretagnolle , V 2015 , ' Identifying effective actions to guide volunteer-based and nationwide conservation efforts for a ground-nesting farmland bird ' , Journal of Applied Ecology , vol. 52 , no. 4 , pp. 1082-1091 . https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.12445 84948676679 7d7a4787-893e-4674-87fc-8709fef9b850 http://hdl.handle.net/10138/232578 000358004300031 cc_by_nc_nd openAccess info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess active management agricultural intensification Circus pygargus citizen science evidence-based conservation nest predation raptors MONTAGUS HARRIER VANELLUS-VANELLUS INTENSIFICATION PREDATION BIODIVERSITY POPULATIONS PROTECTION MANAGEMENT LANDSCAPE EXCLUSION 1181 Ecology evolutionary biology Article publishedVersion 2018 ftunivhelsihelda 2023-12-14T00:10:41Z Modern farming practices threaten wildlife in different ways, and failure to identify the complexity of multiple threats acting in synergy may result in ineffective management. To protect ground-nesting birds in farmland, monitoring and mitigating impacts of mechanical harvesting is crucial. Here, we use 6years of data from a nationwide volunteer-based monitoring scheme of the Montagu's harrier, a ground-nesting raptor, in French farmlands. We assess the effectiveness of alternative nest protection measures and map their potential benefit to the species. We show that unprotected nests in cultivated land are strongly negatively affected by harvesting and thus require active management. Further, we show that protection from harvesting alone (e.g. by leaving a small unharvested buffer around the nest) is impaired by post-harvest predation at nests that become highly conspicuous after harvest. Measures that simultaneously protect from harvesting and predation (by adding a fence around the nest) significantly enhance nest productivity. The map of expected gain from nest protection in relation to available volunteers' workforce pinpoints large areas of high expected gain from nest protection that are not matched by equally high workforce availability. This mismatch suggests that the impact of nest protection can be further improved by increasing volunteer efforts in key areas where they are low relative to the expected gain they could have.Synthesis and applications. This study shows that synergistic interplay of multiple factors (e.g. mechanical harvesting and predation) may completely undermine the success of well-intentioned conservation efforts. However, identifying areas where the greatest expected gains can be achieved relative to effort expended can minimize the risk of wasted volunteer actions. Overall, this study underscores the importance of citizen science for collecting large-scale data useful for producing science and ultimately informs large-scale evidence-based conservation actions within an adaptive ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Vanellus vanellus HELDA – University of Helsinki Open Repository Journal of Applied Ecology 52 4 1082 1091 |