Akkervogels

For almost 60 years the Baden-Württemberg forestry administration has been documenting the results of its nestbox monitoring scheme. The number of boxes rose from 40,000 around 1950 to 180,000 in the 1980s/1990s. For this study, 80,412 successful nests of the Tree Sparrow Passer montanus were evaluated out of the 3,4 million nestboxes monitored up to 1996. Since the Tree Sparrows in this survey mostly breed at woodland edges, but forage almost exclusively in agricultural land, the results reflect the general trend for the species in SW Germany. Until 1971 the species bred with constant occupancy rates that varied regionally between 0.5 and 5 % of all nestboxes. After that year the proportion increased, reaching rates of 15 % in the Rhine Valley and regionally of more than 30 %. After 1980 the nestbox population collapsed; the drop in the intensively cultivated Rhine Valley was from 15 % to 2 %. The increase in the 1970s is thought to have resulted from the prohibition of DDT. The permanent and continuing decline since 1980 indicates that developments in agriculture have been responsible for the later long-term negative population trend. Areas of intensive agriculture below an altitude of 200 m show the highest rates of decline.

Turtle Doves (Streptopelia turtur) are now the UK’s most threatened farmland bird, according to official figures. Turtle Dove populations fell by 21% between 2009 and 2010. Numbers have been falling since the 1970s, and it is now estimated there are only seven Turtle Doves for every 100 there were in 1970; a decline even greater than other struggling farmland species such as Tree Sparrows Passer montanus and Corn Buntings Miliaria calandra. As well as Turtle Doves, other farmland species whose decline are causing concern for conservationists include Common Starlings Sturnus vulgaris, Yellow Wagtails Motacilla flava, Lapwings Vanellus vanellus and Greenfinches Carduelis chloris. Greenfinch numbers are falling due to the disease trichomoniasis.

Viele Ackerkulturen werden heute von der Aussaat bis zur Ernte mit Pestiziden behandelt. Pestizide beeinträchtigen ganz erheblich die biologische Vielfalt. Neben bestimmten – für den Anbau schädlichen – Pflanzen und Insekten eliminieren viele Pestizide auch alle übrigen Wildkräuter und Insekten – und fehlen höheren Tieren dann als Nahrung. Etliche Arten der Feldvögel haben daher in den letzten Jahren radikal abgenommen. So wird die Stoffgruppe der Neonikotinoide für das Bienen- und das Vogelsterben in der Agrarlandschaft verantwortlich gemacht.

House Sparrows (Passer domesticus) were introduced to North America after 1850, increased and spread up to 1920, and stabilized or decreased thereafter until 1960. In the Maritimes (and perhaps some other areas), a further decline set in after 1970, continuing to the present. Now the species is rare to absent in much of the Maritimes, except around farms with livestock. Decline here since 1970 probably approaches 90 per cent in most other areas of human settlement except south of 45°N.

Changes in summer numbers of adult Corn Buntings Emberiza calandra in a large sample of study areas holding discrete localized populations were measured. Singing cocks and hens paired with them were counted in early summer at 30 study areas on farmland from south Angus to central Aberdeenshire. Although 22 study areas held birds in 1989 and 25 in 1990, this fell to 10 in 1999, seven in 2005, and four in 2007 (the only areas that held birds in all years). On all areas combined, cock numbers fell by 83% between 1989 and 2007.

Mit den Ackerbaukulturen vor rund 5000 Jahren wurde in unseren Breitengraden ein Lebensraum für Ackerwildkräuter und für die von ihnen lebenden Tiere geschaffen. Durch intensive Landwirtschaft, insbesondere durch den Einsatz von Unkrautvernichtungsmitteln, ist die Artenvielfalt unserer Äcker erheblich zurückgegangen. Von den rund 1.200 auf Äckern lebenden Tierarten sind heute 90 Prozent verschwunden oder stark dezimiert. Dies sind beispielsweise Rebhuhn Perdix perdix und Wachtelkönig Crex crex, welche die an den Ackerwildkräutern lebenden Insekten als Nahrung brauchen. Aber auch Feldhamster, der Kleine Perlmutterfalter Issoria lathonia oder verschiedene Laufkäferarten gehören dazu. In Niedersachsen steht ein Drittel der etwa 300 Ackerwildkräuter auf der Roten Liste der gefährdeten Pflanzenarten.

Farmland birds are important indicators of the ecological health of our countryside and the recently published figures show how bad the situation is. BirdWatch Ireland and BirdLife Europe have revealed that farmland bird populations in Ireland and across Europe are at their lowest levels since records began. Grey partridge Perdix perdix numbers are down a massive 82pc, the skylark Alauda arvensis 46pc, the linnet Carduelis cannabina 62pc and the corn bunting Miliaria calandra 66pc. I wrote recently about how the curlew Numenius arquata is facing extinction and yellowhammer Emberiza citrinella numbers are at their lowest ever levels, while many other previously common farmland birds have shown significant, long-term declines. Intensive farming creates difficulties for almost all wildlife. Monocultures of grain and grasses provide little food for seed eaters unless generous margins are left at the headlands. Early mowing for silage removes vital springtime habitat. Drainage destroys wetlands and the damage done by removing hedgerows is well known. Pesticides can kill far more than the target 'pests' by also harming beneficial insects and the birds that feed on them, and continuous tillage depletes the organic matter in the soil. Slug pellets harm the creatures that eat slugs and rat poison can end up in the digestive systems of birds like barn owls. Careless spreading of slurry and silage effluent often causes serious pollution, as do incorrectly installed septic tanks, yet howls of protest are heard whenever someone points this out.

Moderne Zivilisation und die damit verbundenen Entwicklungen lassen immer weniger Platz für Wildtiere, und das leider auch in Österreich. Eine davon betroffene Vogelart ist als Motiv dieser Sonderpostmarke zu sehen, die Großtrappe Otis tarda. Das einst weite Verbreitungsgebiet der Trappe ist heute auf ein inselartiges Vorkommen reduziert. Ursprünglich lebte sie in Portugal, Spanien, Südschweden, England und weiten Gebieten Deutschlands, in Südeuropa, der Türkei, Polen und Rußland bis nach Mittelasien. In all diesen Ländern sind die Bestände dieser Vogelart entweder ausgerottet oder stark dezimiert. In Österreich gab es 1982 noch 150 Trappen. Im Marchfeld, einem alten Zentrum des Trappenvorkommens lebten zu diesem Zeitpunkt nur mehr 60 dieser schönen Vögel. Schuld daran waren vor allem die großräumigen Veränderungen in der Landschaftsstruktur und die Verwendung von Insekten- und Mäusevernichtungsgiften in der Landwirtschaft.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of malathion on the immune system of wild birds, using Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) as a model. Quail were exposed to malathion in drinking water at environmentally realistic concentrations (0 ppm, 1 ppm, and 10 ppm). In the fifth week, several arms of the immune response were tested using the T-cell based phytohemagglutinin (PHA) skin test, the B-cell mediated antibody response, and the chemiluminescence assay measuring innate immunity. After the sixth week of malathion exposure, quail were challenged with E. coli O2. The bursa of Fabricius and the spleen were assessed for histopathology.