Rural parks as refugia of cavity nesters in an agricultural landscape: Which habitat features are important for cavity dwellers?

Abstract

Parks as artificial non-forest tree stands that serve many useful functions for people can also act as refuges for specialised species that include, for example, cavity nesters. In 2017, (from March to end of May), using the example of 54 parks in the agricultural landscape of SE Poland, the importance of 9 basic habitat parameters was assessed (tree trunk diameter, health status of the trees, proportion of dead trees, management intensity, distance to the nearest forest, distance to a forest of >10 ha in area, park area, built-up area, area of tree cover surrounding the park), for the occurrence and richness of five cavity nesters. Rural parks serve refugia for cavity nesters in the agricultural landscape, such as Great Spotted and Syrian woodpeckers and secondary cavity nesters: European Starling, Eurasian Nuthatch and Eurasian Wryneck. The park size, as well as the presence of trees with large dimensions, were positively related to the occurrence and richness of most studied species. A small share of scattered built-up areas did not negatively affect the occurrence and richness of cavity nesters, and even positively affected the occurrence of Syrian woodpecker and Eurasian Wryneck. Only significant management intensity of the parks negatively influenced the Eurasian Wryneck occurrence, and richness of secondary cavity nesters and the whole cavity nester assemblage. The protection of parks with the characteristics listed above should also be taken into account when developing park management strategies, as such areas are important for species with greater ecological flexibility, and may support biodiversity in the agricultural landscape. The negative human impact on cavity nesters may be mitigated by the designation of ‘wild zones’ in the parks, which will save ecological valuable trees and at the same time ensure the safety of visitors.