The European Union subsidizes farmers that adopt practices that benefit biodiversity and ecosystem services. These subsidies, called agri-environment schemes (AES), are also meant to prevent further decline of species in the agricultural landscape, including meadow birds. There are different AES available and they can be combined in numerous ways. This makes it complicated to assess the costs and ecological benefits of these measures for meadow birds.
In a recently published paper, project team member Luis Barba-Escoto and colleagues from the University of Groningen proposed a method to simplify the complexity of AES combinations in the Netherlands. Also, they compared the numbers of Black-tailed Godwits in three categories of agricultural fields: high-intensity fields, fields with AES, and fields with site protection, while further considering the variability found within AES fields. The authors discuss which AES measures are most implemented and which are most cost-effective, among other things.
The study suggests that the most expensive measures are also the ones that host higher proportions and densities of breeding Godwits, while measures with lower Godwit numbers are the most widespread. This calls to consider upgrading fields to AES that provide better habitat quality for meadow birds.
The full article was published in Global Ecology and Conservation (Volume 56, December 2024) and is available for free here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2024.e03286