A role for liming as a conservation intervention? Earthworm abundance is associated with higher soil pH and foraging activity of a threatened shorebird in upland grasslands
The relationship between farmland bird populations and agricultural intensification has been well studied. However, the impact of variation in soil conditions and soil management is an exception, especially in upland (sub-alpine) farming systems. In this study, we examined the relationships between...
Published in: | Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , |
Other Authors: | , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2016
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1893/24039 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2016.03.005 http://dspace.stir.ac.uk/bitstream/1893/24039/1/Conservation%20benefits%20of%20liming_REVISED%20FINAL.pdf |
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ftunivstirling:oai:dspace.stir.ac.uk:1893/24039 |
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record_format |
openpolar |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Stirling: Stirling Digital Research Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftunivstirling |
language |
English |
topic |
Agriculture Grassland Lime Earthworm Lapwing Vanellus Soil pH |
spellingShingle |
Agriculture Grassland Lime Earthworm Lapwing Vanellus Soil pH McCallum, Heather M Wilson, Jeremy Beaumont, Dave Sheldon, Rob O'Brien, Mark G Park, Kirsty A role for liming as a conservation intervention? Earthworm abundance is associated with higher soil pH and foraging activity of a threatened shorebird in upland grasslands |
topic_facet |
Agriculture Grassland Lime Earthworm Lapwing Vanellus Soil pH |
description |
The relationship between farmland bird populations and agricultural intensification has been well studied. However, the impact of variation in soil conditions and soil management is an exception, especially in upland (sub-alpine) farming systems. In this study, we examined the relationships between liming history, soil pH and patterns of foraging by Northern Lapwing,Vanellus vanellus, chicks in order to test the potential utility of soil amendment as a conservation intervention for shorebirds nesting in agricultural grasslands. Limed fields had higher soil pH than unlimed fields, and soil pH declined with the number of years since a field was last limed. The most important predictor of total earthworm abundance was soil organic matter with very few earthworms in peats of very high organic matter content. However, there was a marked additive effect of soil pH with earthworms more than twice as abundant at high (pH 6.0) as at the low (pH 3.5) extremes of soil pH recorded in the study. Specifically, at Lapwing chick foraging locations, the density ofAllolobophora chlorotica, an acid-intolerant species of earthworm found just below the surface of the soil, was significantly higher than at randomly selected locations. These results suggest that liming helped to maintain breeding habitat quality for Lapwings and other species dependent on earthworms. This is of conservation significance in upland agricultural grasslands in the UK, where there has been a long-term reduction in agricultural lime use since the mid-20th century. Field-scale trials of liming would be valuable to test whether targetted amendment of soil pH in agriculturally improved grasslands could retain an important role in conservation management for shorebirds in upland landscapes where geology, high rainfall, and leaching tend to acidify soils over time. |
author2 |
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) Biological and Environmental Sciences orcid:0000-0001-6080-7197 |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
McCallum, Heather M Wilson, Jeremy Beaumont, Dave Sheldon, Rob O'Brien, Mark G Park, Kirsty |
author_facet |
McCallum, Heather M Wilson, Jeremy Beaumont, Dave Sheldon, Rob O'Brien, Mark G Park, Kirsty |
author_sort |
McCallum, Heather M |
title |
A role for liming as a conservation intervention? Earthworm abundance is associated with higher soil pH and foraging activity of a threatened shorebird in upland grasslands |
title_short |
A role for liming as a conservation intervention? Earthworm abundance is associated with higher soil pH and foraging activity of a threatened shorebird in upland grasslands |
title_full |
A role for liming as a conservation intervention? Earthworm abundance is associated with higher soil pH and foraging activity of a threatened shorebird in upland grasslands |
title_fullStr |
A role for liming as a conservation intervention? Earthworm abundance is associated with higher soil pH and foraging activity of a threatened shorebird in upland grasslands |
title_full_unstemmed |
A role for liming as a conservation intervention? Earthworm abundance is associated with higher soil pH and foraging activity of a threatened shorebird in upland grasslands |
title_sort |
role for liming as a conservation intervention? earthworm abundance is associated with higher soil ph and foraging activity of a threatened shorebird in upland grasslands |
publisher |
Elsevier |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/1893/24039 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2016.03.005 http://dspace.stir.ac.uk/bitstream/1893/24039/1/Conservation%20benefits%20of%20liming_REVISED%20FINAL.pdf |
genre |
Vanellus vanellus |
genre_facet |
Vanellus vanellus |
op_relation |
McCallum HM, Wilson J, Beaumont D, Sheldon R, O'Brien MG & Park K (2016) A role for liming as a conservation intervention? Earthworm abundance is associated with higher soil pH and foraging activity of a threatened shorebird in upland grasslands. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 223, pp. 182-189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2016.03.005 http://hdl.handle.net/1893/24039 doi:10.1016/j.agee.2016.03.005 WOS:000375337400020 2-s2.0-84960383123 553053 http://dspace.stir.ac.uk/bitstream/1893/24039/1/Conservation%20benefits%20of%20liming_REVISED%20FINAL.pdf |
op_rights |
This item has been embargoed for a period. During the embargo please use the Request a Copy feature at the foot of the Repository record to request a copy directly from the author. You can only request a copy if you wish to use this work for your own research or private study. Accepted refereed manuscript of: McCallum HM, Wilson J, Beaumont D, Sheldon R, O'Brien MG & Park K (2016) A role for liming as a conservation intervention? Earthworm abundance is associated with higher soil pH and foraging activity of a threatened shorebird in upland grasslands, Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 223, pp. 182-189. DOI:10.1016/j.agee.2016.03.005 © 2016, Elsevier. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ 2017-02-12 [Conservation benefits of liming_REVISED FINAL.pdf] Publisher requires embargo of 12 months after online publication. |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY-NC-ND |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2016.03.005 |
container_title |
Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment |
container_volume |
223 |
container_start_page |
182 |
op_container_end_page |
189 |
_version_ |
1766232309677162496 |
spelling |
ftunivstirling:oai:dspace.stir.ac.uk:1893/24039 2023-05-15T18:42:36+02:00 A role for liming as a conservation intervention? Earthworm abundance is associated with higher soil pH and foraging activity of a threatened shorebird in upland grasslands McCallum, Heather M Wilson, Jeremy Beaumont, Dave Sheldon, Rob O'Brien, Mark G Park, Kirsty Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) Biological and Environmental Sciences orcid:0000-0001-6080-7197 2016-05-01 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/1893/24039 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2016.03.005 http://dspace.stir.ac.uk/bitstream/1893/24039/1/Conservation%20benefits%20of%20liming_REVISED%20FINAL.pdf en eng Elsevier McCallum HM, Wilson J, Beaumont D, Sheldon R, O'Brien MG & Park K (2016) A role for liming as a conservation intervention? Earthworm abundance is associated with higher soil pH and foraging activity of a threatened shorebird in upland grasslands. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 223, pp. 182-189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2016.03.005 http://hdl.handle.net/1893/24039 doi:10.1016/j.agee.2016.03.005 WOS:000375337400020 2-s2.0-84960383123 553053 http://dspace.stir.ac.uk/bitstream/1893/24039/1/Conservation%20benefits%20of%20liming_REVISED%20FINAL.pdf This item has been embargoed for a period. During the embargo please use the Request a Copy feature at the foot of the Repository record to request a copy directly from the author. You can only request a copy if you wish to use this work for your own research or private study. Accepted refereed manuscript of: McCallum HM, Wilson J, Beaumont D, Sheldon R, O'Brien MG & Park K (2016) A role for liming as a conservation intervention? Earthworm abundance is associated with higher soil pH and foraging activity of a threatened shorebird in upland grasslands, Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 223, pp. 182-189. DOI:10.1016/j.agee.2016.03.005 © 2016, Elsevier. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ 2017-02-12 [Conservation benefits of liming_REVISED FINAL.pdf] Publisher requires embargo of 12 months after online publication. CC-BY-NC-ND Agriculture Grassland Lime Earthworm Lapwing Vanellus Soil pH Journal Article AM - Accepted Manuscript 2016 ftunivstirling https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2016.03.005 2022-06-13T18:44:16Z The relationship between farmland bird populations and agricultural intensification has been well studied. However, the impact of variation in soil conditions and soil management is an exception, especially in upland (sub-alpine) farming systems. In this study, we examined the relationships between liming history, soil pH and patterns of foraging by Northern Lapwing,Vanellus vanellus, chicks in order to test the potential utility of soil amendment as a conservation intervention for shorebirds nesting in agricultural grasslands. Limed fields had higher soil pH than unlimed fields, and soil pH declined with the number of years since a field was last limed. The most important predictor of total earthworm abundance was soil organic matter with very few earthworms in peats of very high organic matter content. However, there was a marked additive effect of soil pH with earthworms more than twice as abundant at high (pH 6.0) as at the low (pH 3.5) extremes of soil pH recorded in the study. Specifically, at Lapwing chick foraging locations, the density ofAllolobophora chlorotica, an acid-intolerant species of earthworm found just below the surface of the soil, was significantly higher than at randomly selected locations. These results suggest that liming helped to maintain breeding habitat quality for Lapwings and other species dependent on earthworms. This is of conservation significance in upland agricultural grasslands in the UK, where there has been a long-term reduction in agricultural lime use since the mid-20th century. Field-scale trials of liming would be valuable to test whether targetted amendment of soil pH in agriculturally improved grasslands could retain an important role in conservation management for shorebirds in upland landscapes where geology, high rainfall, and leaching tend to acidify soils over time. Article in Journal/Newspaper Vanellus vanellus University of Stirling: Stirling Digital Research Repository Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 223 182 189 |