Significant effects of grazing intensity on the abundance of grassland birds

We compared bird communities of paired extensively and intensively grazed cattle pastures in three different regions of the Hungarian Great Plain. The extensive field and intensive field in a pair had the same soil type and groundwater level and were situated in similarly structured landscapes. Cattle density was about 0.5 cows/ha on extensive and greater than 1 cow/ha on intensive fields. None of the fields were fertilised, cut or re-seeded. We found significant effects of grazing intensity on the abundance of grassland birds, which were more abundant on the extensive sites, whereas no effects were found on non-grassland birds. The three commonest grassland species (Skylark Alauda arvensis, Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava and Corn Bunting Miliaria calandra) were more abundant on the extensive fields in all regions.

Authors: Batáry P, Báldi A and Erdös S (2007) Biodivers Conserv 16: 871-881
http://www.nhmus.hu/~baldi/Batary%20et%20al%202007%20Biodiv%20Conserv.p…