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Unused railway lines as a contributor to bird abundance, species richness and diversity in intensively managed farmland

cris.virtual.author-orcid0000-0002-1370-7625
cris.virtual.author-orcid0000-0002-4989-1524
cris.virtualsource.author-orcid86de7053-c0cc-4a23-960c-fd3908659acc
cris.virtualsource.author-orcida28cb160-17dc-454c-a01e-fa082e2acbf4
dc.abstract.enAgricultural landscapes are characterized by a variety of habitats resulting from man-made transformations of the natural environment. Progressing agricultural intensification is leading to a reduction in natural and semi-natural habitats, resulting in turn in a loss of biodiversity. In farmland, natural habitats such as field margins, hedgerows, and meadows are progressively declining or being transformed. There is a need for regionally adjusted schemes that balance agricultural production and biodiversity conservation due to strong differences even within one country. We present a potential tool that can mitigate biodiversity loss in farmland ecosystems. In this study, we compared transects on three different habitat types: unused railway lines, dirt road verges and fields in terms of overall, farmland and open land bird species abundance, richness and Shannon-Wiener diversity index as well as community composition in intensively managed agricultural landscapes. We predicted that 1) bird abundance, species richness and diversity would be greater in vegetation structure along unused railway lines due to their spontaneous vegetation character than in other habitats, and 2) bird community composition would be different between three habitat types (unused railway lines, farmland roads and transects in farming areas). Our findings demonstrated that habitats along unused railway lines provide a suitable environment for farmland birds, increasing bird diversity in the agricultural landscape and playing a wider role in biodiversity conservation. Vegetation structures along unused railway lines may act as alternative refuges for birds in each season, providing food resources, nesting, shelter, perching, singing, and resting sites as well as constitute a kind of ecological corridor running within an intensively used agricultural landscape.
dc.affiliationWydział Medycyny Weterynaryjnej i Nauk o Zwierzętach
dc.affiliation.instituteKatedra Zoologii
dc.contributor.authorDylewski, Łukasz
dc.contributor.authorTobółka, Marcin
dc.date.accessioned2025-12-10T07:43:19Z
dc.date.available2025-12-10T07:43:19Z
dc.date.issued2022
dc.description.bibliographybibliogr.
dc.description.financepublication_nocost
dc.description.financecost0,00
dc.description.if6,6
dc.description.number1 March 2022
dc.description.points200
dc.description.volume326
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.agee.2021.107820
dc.identifier.eissn1873-2305
dc.identifier.issn0167-8809
dc.identifier.urihttps://sciencerep.up.poznan.pl/handle/item/6292
dc.languageen
dc.relation.ispartofAgriculture, Ecosystems and Environment
dc.relation.pagesart. 107820
dc.rightsClosedAccess
dc.sciencecloudnosend
dc.subject.ensupporting habitats
dc.subject.enpost-man-made structure
dc.subject.enrailroads
dc.subject.enbird
dc.subject.enecosystem services
dc.subject.enbiodiversity conservation
dc.titleUnused railway lines as a contributor to bird abundance, species richness and diversity in intensively managed farmland
dc.typeJournalArticle
dspace.entity.typePublication
oaire.citation.volume326