Abstract
There are many opportunities for biodiversity conservation in organic farm systems. Successful and sustainable conservation efforts in organic systems, however, need to measure appropriate outcomes. In particular, data are needed on the breeding success of associated wildlife species. We measured nesting success of the American Robin (Turdus migratorius) in woodlands embedded within eight organic farms in eastern Nebraska. We modeled daily nest survival rate to identify land use and land cover patterns that optimize conservation of birds in organic farm systems. The percentage of a crop in the fields adjacent to linear woodlands best predicted daily survival rate. Daily survival rate was lower in fields adjacent to wheat and greater in woodlands adjacent to soybean fields, though the latter may be a weak effect. There was no evidence that reducing the area allocated to organic crop production would improve daily survival rate but rather an evidence of a patch-matrix interaction. These results suggest that, if suitable nesting sites exist, organic farmers can complement local conservation efforts without losing working farmland.
Highlights
IntroductionGiven the limited progress made toward achieving biodiversity conservation targets via protected areas [1], sustainable solutions are needed that consider opportunities beyond their borders
Given the limited progress made toward achieving biodiversity conservation targets via protected areas [1], sustainable solutions are needed that consider opportunities beyond their borders.as a disproportionate amount of ecology and conservation research is conducted in protected areas [2], new data are needed to improve conservation targets and management action outside of protected areas, including in agroecosystems
Building on field sampling on collaborating organic farms, we modeled daily nest survival rate [33,34,35] of the American Robin and evaluated what land use and land cover patterns associated with organic management hinder or enhance the breeding success of American Robins nesting in organic farm systems
Summary
Given the limited progress made toward achieving biodiversity conservation targets via protected areas [1], sustainable solutions are needed that consider opportunities beyond their borders. Specific predictions related to crop type and intensity of cropping practice are lost when cropland is lumped together in analysis as general category of “row crop” Given that these croplands compose the largest percent of the land cover in many regions, including the Great Plains of North America [22,23], and that croplands provide economic gain to individual farmers, better data are need to understand the role of specific crops relative to the role of non-crop habitat patches embedded in working organic farmland. Non-crop land cover includes riparian buffers, windbreaks of various tree and shrub species, fruit trees, grass strips adjacent to fields and grassland patches spared from crop production [28] In this project, we examined the nesting success of a common farmland bird of the central United. We identified organic farming practices that optimize the contribution of organic farming to local biodiversity conservation efforts
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