Writing for researchers, professionals and graduate students, the authors summarize the collapse of populations of many farmland bird species in the 20th century, one of the biggest conservation problems of the day. They firstly set the historical context of change in agriculture and bird communities since the 18th century, and introduce the bird communities of agricultural land today. They then provide an overview of this very active area of applied conservation science, including in-depth case studies of 16 species that, taken together, illustrate the many ways that agricultural intensification has affected bird populations. Moreover, they show how this evidence base, coupled with recent greening of agriculture policy, has provided opportunities to manage agricultural land to better integrate the needs of food production and bird conservation. They conclude by looking forward to challenges that the conservation of bird populations on agricultural land is likely to face in the near future.
o Richly illustrated with photographs and line drawings, with in-depth case studies of 16 different bird species o Covers both semi-natural habitats, such as moorland, heathland and downland, and more intensively-farmed land, breaking the traditional mould of treating them separately o State-of-the-art account of one of the biggest conservation problems of today, as grain prices have trebled in the last three years in resposne to global demand
Introduction: birds and agriculture in Britain;
1. The history of agriculture in Britain; Part I. The Habitats and Their Birds:
2. The field;
3. The field boundary;
4. Semi-natural heathlands and grasslands; Part II. Trends and Patterns:
5. Bird population trends;
6. Patterns of association between agricultural change and wildlife populations; Part III. The Effects of Agricultural Change on Birds:
7. Large-scale studies of abundance, distribution and demograph;
8. Species case studies;
9. Studies of changing agricultural practice;
10. What future for birds and agriculture in Britain?