Scotland's long-distance migrants - contrasting changes and new challenges

The emergence and spread of finch trichomonosis in the British Isles

The protozoan parasite responsible for finch trichomonosis has caused epidemic mortality in Greenfinches and Chaffinches across the British Isles. A new study, which uses data from GBW, GBFS and BBS, shows that the British population of breeding Greenfinches has fallen from approximately 4.3 million to 2.8 million birds since the disease’s emergence in 2005, and that the number of Greenfinches visiting gardens has also halved during this time. Chaffinches have been less severely affected.

Landscape-scale responses of birds to agri-environment management: a test of the English Environmental Stewardship scheme

Publicly funded agri-environment schemes are widely used in Europe to address biodiversity losses in farmland ecosystems, but to date evidence of their effectiveness has been limited. New research by the BTO has used BBS data to show that since 2005, management to enhance winter seed availability for farmland birds in England as part of Environmental Stewardship (ES) has significantly reduced the rate of population decline for several species, including Yellowhammer, Linnet, Reed Bunting and Grey Partridge. 

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Effects of the proportion and spatial arrangement of un-cropped land on breeding bird abundance in arable rotations

European agri-environment schemes provide prescriptions to farmers to sustain wildlife and biodiversity on farmland. Such prescriptions include leaving areas of farmland un-cropped. While many studies have investigated the value of different types of un-cropped land for wildlife, little is known about the quantity of un-cropped land needed per farm to maintain bird populations.

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Enhancing the value of horizon scanning through collaborative review

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