Cereal-based whole crop silages: potential biodiversity benefits of cereal production in pastoral landscapes

摘要

Arable cultivation, particularly spring-sown cereals, can provide nesting sites and food resources for a wide range of farmland birds. Specialisation of farming enterprises has resulted in the disappearance of arable cultivation from many livestock-rearing areas of western Britain, and this has been a major cause of farmland bird declines. Maize now accounts for most arable cultivation in lowland livestock regions, but may be of limited value as a nesting or foraging habitat for farmland birds. Herewe report a comparative study of alternatives to conventional maize or grass silage systems, investigating the biodiversity benefits of cereal-based whole crop silage. Preliminary results demonstrate that the use of spring barley for whole crop silage inareas dominated by intensive grassland or maize cultivation can contribute significantly to increases in food resources for a wide range of farmland bird species, especially when stubbles are left over winter.