NatureScot Commissioned Report 941 - Effectiveness of SRDP in corn bunting conservation - assessing the impact of six years of targeted agri-environment schemes
Populations of the corn bunting, a farmland bird of high conservation concern, are limited to four core areas in Scotland. This research aimed to see if agri-environment scheme (AES) measures deployed in the corn bunting’s Aberdeenshire/Moray stronghold since 2008–2009 have resulted in any population change.
Surveyed farms experienced no significant change in population size or occupancy rate, which indicates that the population has stabilised. This contrasts sharply with the severe long-term decline across Scotland from the 1970s to 2000s, and declines across this specific set of farms between 2003 and 2008.
The current population size nationally is estimated to be 750 to 900 territorial males. In contrast to previous work, this research found no variation in population trends between AES and non-AES farms. The report gives possible reasons for this and suggests how to improve the effectiveness of AES measures for corn buntings.
Published: 2017
Pages: 53
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