The importance of an agricultural mosaic for Cirl Buntings Emberiza cirlus in Italy

摘要

The decline of farmland bird species is a major concern for conservationists in Europe (BirdLife International 2004a). Widespread and dramatic reductions in populations of farmland birds are the result of changing agricultural practices and the loss of semi-natural grasslands and other open habitats (Fuller et al. 1995, Pain & Pienkowski 1997, Preiss et al. 1997, Donald et al. 2001, Müller et al. 2005, Brambilla et al. 2007). The homogenization of agricultural landscapes, which accompanies both agricultural intensification and long-term land abandonment, leads to the removal of marginal habitat features, such as small woodlots, hedgerows and shrubs, and is probably detrimental to a number of farmland bird species (Tucker & Evans 1997).