Using the EU's Common Agricultural Policy to improve the habitat for farmland birds in landscapes with excessively large arable fields: Buffer strips in Slovakia

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216208%3A11310%2F25%3A10500181" target="_blank" >RIV/00216208:11310/25:10500181 - isvavai.cz</a>

Alternative codes found

RIV/61989592:15310/25:73634210

Result on the web

<a href="https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=tM5y06Ya8t" target="_blank" >https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=tM5y06Ya8t</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2024.109461" target="_blank" >10.1016/j.agee.2024.109461</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Using the EU's Common Agricultural Policy to improve the habitat for farmland birds in landscapes with excessively large arable fields: Buffer strips in Slovakia

Original language description

Buffer strips are a key element of the EU&apos;s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for 2023-2027 in addressing declines of farmland bird populations triggered by agricultural intensification. Here, we focus on a voluntary ecoscheme in Slovakia, a country in Central-Eastern Europe, where farmers implement buffer strips to counter challenges posed by extensive fields and a lack of nonproductive areas. Based on experience from other countries, buffer strips may support farmland bird populations, but results from landscapes characterised by excessively large arable fields (frequently covering 50 + ha), typical for some former socialist Central-Eastern European countries including Slovakia, are lacking. This study involves 11 farms participating in the whole farm ecoscheme, with 40 study sites (established in a paired design) selected for bird counts conducted in spring and summer 2023. The data contained records of 2060 bird individuals, representing 42 species. Buffer strips significantly enhanced bird abundance and species richness compared to control arable fields. Positive impacts were also found for threatened species, with ground-nesting birds benefiting the most. The higher abundance of granivorous, folivorous, and insectivorous species in the buffer strips highlights their diverse advantages. These results indicate that buffer strips emerge as crucial habitat that provides suitable nesting and foraging sites for farmland birds. Based on our results, we recommend continuing buffer strip support within CAP, emphasising reduced bureaucratic demands and enhanced financial incentives. The findings underscore the importance of agri-environmental measures in the maintenance of farmland bird species, which applies to landscapes dominated by large fields. Future research should evaluate the broader effectiveness of the eco-scheme, for example, by focussing on the long-term population trends of birds.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

10511 - Environmental sciences (social aspects to be 5.7)

Project

<a href="/en/project/GA23-07103S" target="_blank" >GA23-07103S: Towards the understanding of processes responsible for farmland biodiversity loss: insights from Central European birds</a><br>

Continuities

P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)

Publication year

2025

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Agriculture, Ecosystems &amp; Environment

ISSN

0167-8809

e-ISSN

1873-2305

Volume of the periodical

381

Issue of the periodical within the volume

April

Country of publishing house

NL - THE KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS

Number of pages

8

Pages from-to

109461

UT code for WoS article

001432075200001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85214249626