Timing of upland vegetation management affects breeding of three species of passerine birds: a case study from southwest England

ABSTRACT

Capsule:

Current permitted timings of vegetation burning and Bracken Pteridium aquilinum control show considerable overlap with the timing of breeding of three widespread UK upland breeding passerine bird species on an upland site in southwest England.

Aims:

To quantify the timing of breeding of Meadow Pipits Anthus pratensis, European Stonechats Saxicola rubicola, and Whinchats Saxicola rubetra and assess overlap with the permitted timing of the two widespread upland land management practices of burning and Bracken control on a moorland site in southwest England.

Methods:

498 nests were monitored across a 4.3 km² area of Dartmoor between 2008 and 2014. The onset and timing of breeding activity, and variation between species and years, were quantified. Overlap between breeding activity and burning and Bracken control was then quantified for several realistic and legally permitted scenarios.

Results:

There was considerable overlap between upland management practices and breeding activity of Stonechats, Meadow Pipits, and Whinchats. In all three permitted burning cessation scenarios (11, 13, and 15 weeks from 1 January) there was overlap with breeding activity of Stonechats and Meadow Pipits. The commencement of Bracken control in July also overlapped with breeding activity, with half of Whinchat nests and more than a quarter of Stonechat and Meadow Pipit nests potentially affected.

Conclusion:

The overlap of timings for breeding and vegetation management is likely to be causing nest failure for a significant number of birds each year. We suggest a change to the permitted burning and Bracken control timings to better accommodate the protection of breeding passerine birds on Dartmoor.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Joshua Marshall and Lowell Mills for their help with nest finding and nest monitoring. We would like to thank the Dartmoor National Park Authority and the study area landowners for facilitating the work.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the University of Exeter (CRT) and also supported by Devon Birds.