Rapid redistribution of agricultural land alters avian richness, abundance, and functional diversity.

ABSTRACT: The conversion of natural, or seminatural, habitats to agricultural land and changes in agricultural land use are significant drivers of biodiversity loss. Within the context of land-sharing versus land-sparing debates, large-scale commercial agriculture is known to be detrimental to biodiversity, but the effects of small-scale subsistence farming on biodiversity are disputed. This poses a problem for sustainable land-use management in the Global South, where approximately 30% of farmland is small-scale. Following a rapid land redistribution program in Zimbabwe, we evaluated changes in avian biodiversity by examining richness, abundance, and functional diversity. Rapid land redistribution has, in the near term, resulted in increased avian abundance in newly farmed areas containing miombo w

SUBMITTER: Pringle S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6854327 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature