Do field margins enrich the diet of the Eurasian Skylark Alauda arvensis on intensive farmland?

TY - JOUR

T1 - Do field margins enrich the diet of the Eurasian Skylark Alauda arvensis on intensive farmland?

AU - Ottens, H. J.

AU - Kuiper, M. W.

AU - Flinks, H.

AU - van Ruijven, J.

AU - Siepel, H.

AU - Koks, B. J.

AU - Berendse, F.

AU - de Snoo, G. R.

N1 - ISI Document Delivery No.: AW8UL Times Cited: 2 Cited Reference Count: 63 Ottens, Henk Jan Kuiper, Marije W. Flinks, Heiner van Ruijven, Jasper Siepel, Henk Koks, Ben J. Berendse, Frank de Snoo, Geert R. Siepel, Henk/Q-8145-2019; Siepel, Henk/C-2579-2011 Siepel, Henk/0000-0003-4503-4485; Siepel, Henk/0000-0003-4503-4485 Foundation Chair in Nature Conservation on Farmland; Province of Groningen; Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds We are very grateful to the farmers who kindly allowed us to carry out this research on their properties and provided us with useful information and practical assistance. For assistance during field work we thank Remar Erens. Two reviewers are thanked for their valuable comments and suggestions to improve the paper. The research was partly funded by the Foundation Chair in Nature Conservation on Farmland, the Province of Groningen and the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds (Paul van Hoorn Fund, Robert Persman Fund, Bruinvis Meijer Fund, Barbara Eveline Keuning Fund). 2 1 45 Nederlandse ornithologische unie Zeist 2213-1175 <Go to ISI>://WOS:000346536800006

PY - 2014

Y1 - 2014

N2 - To help restore food availability for birds, arable field margins (extensively managed strips of land sown with grasses and forbs) have been established on European farmland. In this study we describe the effect of field margins on the diet of Eurasian Skylark nestlings and adults living on intensively managed Dutch farmland. We tested the hypotheses that field margins offer a higher diversity of invertebrate prey than intensively managed crops, and that the diet of nestlings receiving food from field margins will therefore be more diverse than that of other nestlings. Field margins had a greater variety of invertebrate prey groups to offer than the intensively managed crops. Coleoptera were the most frequently and most abundantly eaten prey group by both adults and nestlings. Together, Coleoptera, Diptera, Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera and Araneae accounted for 91% of the nestling diet. Nestlings ate larger prey items and a larger proportion of larvae than adults. Almost 75% of both adults and nestlings consumed plant material, perhaps indicating a scarcity of invertebrate resources. When provided with food from field margins, the mean number of invertebrate orders in the nestling diet increased significantly from 4.7 to 5.5 and the number of families from 4.2 to 5.8 per sample. Thus, birds that used field margins for foraging could indeed provide their young with more invertebrate prey groups than birds only foraging in crops and grassland.

AB - To help restore food availability for birds, arable field margins (extensively managed strips of land sown with grasses and forbs) have been established on European farmland. In this study we describe the effect of field margins on the diet of Eurasian Skylark nestlings and adults living on intensively managed Dutch farmland. We tested the hypotheses that field margins offer a higher diversity of invertebrate prey than intensively managed crops, and that the diet of nestlings receiving food from field margins will therefore be more diverse than that of other nestlings. Field margins had a greater variety of invertebrate prey groups to offer than the intensively managed crops. Coleoptera were the most frequently and most abundantly eaten prey group by both adults and nestlings. Together, Coleoptera, Diptera, Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera and Araneae accounted for 91% of the nestling diet. Nestlings ate larger prey items and a larger proportion of larvae than adults. Almost 75% of both adults and nestlings consumed plant material, perhaps indicating a scarcity of invertebrate resources. When provided with food from field margins, the mean number of invertebrate orders in the nestling diet increased significantly from 4.7 to 5.5 and the number of families from 4.2 to 5.8 per sample. Thus, birds that used field margins for foraging could indeed provide their young with more invertebrate prey groups than birds only foraging in crops and grassland.

KW - agri-environmental management birds conservation diet diversity food availability invertebrates false discovery rate sown weed strips food resources nestling diet agricultural intensification bird populations breeding-season adjacent fields perdix-perdix

U2 - 10.5253/arde.v102i2.a6

DO - 10.5253/arde.v102i2.a6

M3 - Article

SN - 0373-2266

VL - 102

SP - 161-U135

JO - Ardea

JF - Ardea

IS - 2

ER -