A national-scale model of linear features improves predictions of farmland biodiversity.

ABSTRACT: Modelling species distribution and abundance is important for many conservation applications, but it is typically performed using relatively coarse-scale environmental variables such as the area of broad land-cover types. Fine-scale environmental data capturing the most biologically relevant variables have the potential to improve these models. For example, field studies have demonstrated the importance of linear features, such as hedgerows, for multiple taxa, but the absence of large-scale datasets of their extent prevents their inclusion in large-scale modelling studies.We assessed whether a novel spatial dataset mapping linear and woody-linear features across the UK improves the performance of abundance models of 18 bird and 24 butterfly species across 3723 and 1547 UK monitoring sites,

SUBMITTER: Sullivan MJP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5697618 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature