Abstract
In recent decades, Skylark (Alauda arvensis) populations in Europe have declined sharply due to agricultural intensification. Insufficient reproduction rates are one reason. Increased winter mortality may also be important, but studies outside the breeding season are scarce and mostly limited to the UK. We studied habitat selection of wintering Skylarks in an agricultural area in the Netherlands. We monitored Skylarks between November 2008 and March 2009 on 10 survey plots including 77 different arable fields and permanent grasslands and covering in total 480 ha. We simultaneously measured food availability, vegetation structure and field boundary characteristics. We also analysed 158 faecal pellets collected on potato and cereal stubble fields to relate Skylark diet to seasonal changes in food availability and foraging habitat. We show that cereal stubble fields larger than 4.3 ha, surrounded by no or low boundary vegetation and a density of dietary seeds of more than 860 seeds m−2, were most suitable for wintering Skylarks. Skylark group densities were low on permanent grasslands and on maize stubble fields. Densities of dietary seeds were highest in soils of potato stubble fields followed by cereal stubble fields, grasslands and maize stubble fields. Skylarks showed a strong preference for cereal grains, but their proportion in the diet fell sharply at the end of November, indicating that cereal grains were depleted and birds had to switch to less profitable food sources, such as weed seeds and leaves. We conclude that Skylarks wintering in agricultural landscapes possibly suffer from a lack of energy-rich food sources and only a few fields provide sufficient food. Conservation measures should strive to improve the wintering situation by creating food-rich habitats such as over-winter stubble with a rich layer of weeds on large fields and localised in open areas.
Zusammenfassung
Habitatwahl und Nahrung von überwinternden Feldlerchen ( Alauda arvensis ) in einer intensiv genutzten Agrarlandschaft der Niederlande
In den vergangenen Jahrzehnten sind die europäischen Bestände der Feldlerche (Alauda arvensis) durch die Intensivierung der Landwirtschaft stark zurückgegangen. Geringe Fortpflanzungsraten sind ein Grund. Eine angestiegene Wintersterblichkeit ist vermutlich ebenfalls von Bedeutung, allerdings gibt es nur sehr wenige Studien außerhalb der Brutsaison und die wenigen sind zudem fast ausnahmslos auf Großbritannien beschränkt. Wir untersuchten die Habitatwahl von Feldlerchen in einer niederländischen Agrarlandschaft. Von November 2008 bis März 2009 zählten wir Feldlerchen auf 10 Probeflächen, die 77 verschiedene Felder und Grasländer und insgesamt 480 ha umfassten. Gleichzeitig erfassten wir die Nahrungsverfügbarkeit, die Vegetationsstruktur und Feldrandcharakteristika. Außerdem sammelten wir auf Getreidestoppelfeldern und ehemaligen Kartoffelfeldern insgesamt 158 Kotproben um die Nahrungszusammensetzung der Feldlerchen zu bestimmen. Diese setzten wir in Relation zum Nahrungsangebot und zum Habitat. Wir zeigen, dass Getreidestoppelfelder die grösser als 4.3 ha sind, kaum vertikale Randstrukturen aufweisen und mehr als 860 Samenkörner pro Quadratmeter aufweisen, bevorzugt von überwinternden Feldlerchen genutzt werden. Auf intensivem Dauergrünland und auf Maisstoppeln fanden wir nur geringe Dichten überwinternder Feldlerchen. Die Dichte von Samenkörnern, die als Nahrung von Feldlerchen dienten, war am höchsten auf vormaligen Kartoffeläckern, gefolgt von Getreidestoppelfeldern, Grünland und Maisstoppelfeldern. Feldlerchen zeigten eine starke Bevorzugung von Getreidekörnern als Nahrung, jedoch nahm deren Anteil in der Nahrung Ende November stark ab. Dies deutet darauf hin, dass bereits dann keine Getreidekörner mehr vorhanden waren und Feldlerchen auf weniger profitable Nahrungsquellen wechseln müssen, z.B. Samenkörner und Blätter von aufkommenden Wildkräutern. Wir folgern, dass überwinternde Feldlerchen in einer intensiven Agrarlandschaft vermutlich einen Mangel an energiereicher Nahrung haben und nur sehr wenige Felder im Winter als Winterhabitat geeignet sind und ausreichend Nahrung bieten. Schutzmaßnahmen sollten darauf abzielen die Wintersituation zu verbessern. Wir empfehlen die Anlage nahrungsreicher Flächen wie zum Beispiel überwinternde Stoppelfelder. Diese sollten nicht mit Herbiziden behandelt werden, sondern eine reichhaltige Krautschicht zulassen. Außerdem sollten sie in einer offenen Landschaft und mit Abstand zu vertikalen Strukturen liegen.
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Acknowledgments
We thank all the farmers and ‘Het Drentse Landschap’ who allowed fieldwork on their land. Herman van Oeveren (Resource Ecology, Wageningen University) kindly helped with the identification of weed seeds. The manuscript benefited from useful comments by two anonymous reviewers. This study was funded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research.
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Communicated by T. Gottschalk.
F. Geiger and A. Hegemann contributed equally.
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Geiger, F., Hegemann, A., Gleichman, M. et al. Habitat use and diet of Skylarks (Alauda arvensis) wintering in an intensive agricultural landscape of the Netherlands. J Ornithol 155, 507–518 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-013-1033-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-013-1033-5