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Farmland birds and the field boundary evaluation and grading system in Ireland
Date Issued
2005-07
Date Available
2012-10-05T16:12:00Z
Abstract
Field boundaries are important habitats for birds within the agricultural landscape. In this study, bird surveys
were carried out during the winter and breeding season on nine farms in the east and south-east of
Ireland and field boundaries at each site were assessed using the Field Boundary Evaluation and Grading
System (FBEGS). Poisson regression demonstrated that FBEGS scores were a good predictor of both winter
and breeding bird species richness and diversity within the field boundaries studied. We interpret these
preliminary results with caution since our sample size was relatively small (compared to the wide variety
of field boundary types found in Ireland) and no single combination of field boundary attributes is likely
to be optimum for all bird species. However, our results suggest that FBEGS may be a useful surrogate
indicator of overall field boundary bird diversity and we discuss the consequent implications for agri-environmental
policy, and for the possible adaptation and use of FBEGS as a tool to monitor the impact of
changing farm management practice.
Type of Material
Journal Article
Publisher
Faculty of Agriculture, UCD in association with Teagasc
Journal
Tearmann - the Irish Journal of Agri-Environmental Research
Volume
4
Start Page
67
End Page
77
Copyright (Published Version)
2005 Faculty of Agriculture, UCD in association with Teagasc
Subject – LCSH
Windbreaks, shelterbelts, etc.--Ireland
Hedgerow ecology--Ireland
Bird populations--Ireland
Numbers of species--Ireland
Regression analysis
Language
English
Status of Item
Not peer reviewed
This item is made available under a Creative Commons License
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