GMO Research Programme - Reports
Modelling the effects on farmland food webs of herbicide and insecticide management in the agricultural ecosystem - contract 2
Ref EPG 1/5/194
Synopsis
This project is one of two (the other is with the University of East Anglia, already published) critically analysing existing food supply/farmland bird response models and modelling approaches. The aim of these contracts is to carry out an analysis of certain critical gaps and to construct a model or models that could be used to extrapolate the effects on farmland birds of herbicide and insecticide management systems on the availability of plant and animal food resources available to foraging birds in the agricultural ecosystem.
Many species of farmland bird have undergone rapid population declines and range contractions in the last 25 years, largely as a result of agricultural intensification. Growing evidence suggests that one important reason for this is that changes in farming practices have had a negative impact on food availability for many birds. There is a growing need to understand the causes of the population declines in order to prevent further declines and to develop management techniques to conserve and enhance bird populations on arable land.
Objectives
- Assemble available information on the dynamics of weed species seed populations over winter in arable fields.
- Identify further work on functional responses of birds (on different substrates) necessary for the wider applicability of the resource limitation (depletion) model.
- to construct a model that could be used to predict the effects of herbicide and insecticide management systems on plant and invertebrate bird food resources and foraging birds in the breeding season and during winter
Start and completion dates
Project started January 2002, completed July 2003.
Final report
Available to download in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format (320 KB)
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Other publications
Not yet available
Contact details
Contractor
Dr Les Firbank
NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
Lancaster Environment Centre
Library Avenue
Bailrigg
Lancaster LA1 4AP
lgf@ceh.ac.uk
Defra
Dr Nick Brickle
3/E8 Ashdown House
123 Victoria Street
London, SW1E 6DE.
020 7082 5238
GM@defra.gsi.gov.uk
Page last modified:
16 December, 2004
Page published: 2 March 2004