Abundance of arthropods as food for meadow bird chicks in response to short- and long-term soil wetting in Dutch dairy grasslands.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Throughout the world, intensive dairy farming has resulted in grasslands almost devoid of arthropods and birds. Meadow birds appear to be especially vulnerable during the chick-rearing period. So far, studies have focused mainly on describing population declines, but solutions to effectively stop these trends on the short-term are lacking. In this study at a single farm, we experimentally manipulated soil moisture through occasional irrigation, to mitigate against early season drainage and create favorable conditions for the emergence of above-ground arthropods during the meadow bird chick rearing phase.

Methods

To guarantee the presence of at least a sizeable arthropod community for the measurement of effects of wetting, we selected a farm with low intensity mana

SUBMITTER: De Felici L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6743474 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature