The sound of silence
THE 50th anniversary of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring falls this September. That seminal book documented what then seemed like massive declines in bird populations. The silence Carson referred to came from fewer birds singing due to the negative effects of pesticides like DDT on bird populations.
Today the situation is far worse. Farmland bird populations are considered indicators of overall flora and fauna health. They are at the lowest levels since records began across Europe, including in Ireland.
Their numbers have reduced from 600m in 1980 to just 303m today.
Across Europe, familiar farmland birds such as the grey partridge (–82%), skylark (–46%), and linnet (–62%) are rapidly declining. Corn buntings, once abundant, have declined by 66% across Europe, and the species is extinct here.
Ruud Foppen, chairman of the European Bird Census Council, when asked to comment on the figures, said: “Yes, this is a very sincere reduction of population size… the trends are robust and consistent over time and over space and this unfortunately means that they probably linger on for quite some while if we do not act immediately.”
The most recent data in Ireland recorded the lowest ever levels for yellowhammers, while others birds such as the skylarks and kestrels have shown significant long-term declines. Some of the lowest ever populations were recorded for many bird species.
Research published last month by Alex Copeland of BirdWatch Ireland and colleagues from UCC’s school of biological, earth, and environmental sciences, draws specific attention to skylark decline on Irish farmlands.
The researchers pointed out that skylarks are especially rare in the South and East of the country, “where the landscape tends to be dominated by intensive agricultural production”. They noted heavier machinery use, drainage of wetlands, higher stocking rates, land being ploughed up and re-seeded with single grass species, and more silage cutting.
What efforts have the Department of Agriculture made to arrest this development?
A spokesperson said: “Since the early 1990s, we have implemented successive agri-environment schemes… participation rates peaked at approx 60,000 participants in 2006. These schemes have raised awareness of farmland birds and other conservation issues among the farming community.
“Earlier versions of the schemes focused on environmental management of field boundaries such as hedgerows and the protection of other habitats on farms such as small areas of scrub and woodland. More recent versions of these schemes encouraged creation of habitats such as planting hedgerows and there was a specific measure called Linnet [Land Invested in Nature, Natural Eco Tillage] to benefit seed eating birds such as linnet over winter.”
There are 19 compulsory good practice measures, called cross compliance, five of which specifically relate to protection of water, soil and biodiversity. There are also other compulsory practices to protect landscape features like hedgerows.
And yet, biodiversity targets are being missed across the EU, including in Ireland. Moreover, farmland bird species are going extinct or are at all-time lows.
Copeland agrees with the department, however, that farming in itself isn’t the problem. “Most of our specialist farmland birds rely on farming to some extent or another.”
The problem is intensive farming practices. “The obvious example here is the corncrake. Corncrakes require tall vegetation during the entire breeding season — April to September — for nesting in, and to provide cover for flightless chicks and mounting adults. However, this cover also has to be open enough to allow the birds to move through it.
“Late-cut hay meadows, or late-grazed pastures, which would be a more unusual habitat, are perfect for them. If the grass where the corncrake are nesting in is cut too early, for example for silage, nests and chicks can be destroyed or killed.” He says abandoned grasslands become unsuitable after a few years. Instead, the optimal is a middle option — neither intensive nor abandoned. Unfortunately, “extensive grassland habitats in Ireland have become increasingly rare. Many of the species dependent upon them — corncrake, breeding waders such as curlew, redshank and snipe, whinchat, skylark are in decline.”
Another major issue for farmland bird biodiversity is tillage, or growing cereal crops, in the south and east of Ireland. A 2008 study, which overviewed all 21 available studies in Ireland on crop cultivation and biodiversity, revealed that 15 studies found negative impacts on all flora and fauna, including birds.
Quite why commercial tillage production is so poor for birdlife in Ireland is unclear. In Britain, tillage supports far greater numbers of farmland birds.
Importantly, increasing farmland bird biodiversity is not just about planting trees, hedgerows, and having smaller fields — the kinds of measures the department have supported. While these measures are “typically associated with higher biodiversity”, says Copeland, “in conservation planning, we need to consider the needs of individual species rather than just biodiversity.
“Otherwise we would end up with only the habitats that hold lots of species, like woods, and with very few habitats that hold relatively few species, such as bogs. Planting hedges and trees is not a panacea to protecting biodiversity — in certain situations it can actually be damaging for biodiversity. Tailored measures to address specific conservation issues are needed.”
Almost half of the EU budget goes on the Common Agricultural Policy. Increasingly, public goods and biodiversity are supposed to be included in payments. According to the department: “Current CAP discussions for the period 2014–2020 are again putting more focus on public goods and are introducing the concept of green payments for maintenance permanent pasture, crop diversification and establishment of ecological focus areas.”
Ruud Foppen believes that CAP reform can make the difference, provided space is created for biodiversity: “This, for instance, can be achieved by designating a certain area or percentage of the land to be taken out of production and to manage that land for nature purposes. Not only by creating set aside, but also using field margins as biodiversity ‘safe havens’.”
Birdwatch Ireland is worried because “recent EU budget announcements have made it clear that decision makers plan to allocate less money to Pillar 2 which contains very valuable environmental payments”.
Without allowing for biodiversity at “a sufficient magnitude,” Foppen is worried that, as he put it bluntly, “our farmland birds will disappear almost completely.” And spring will indeed be very silent then.
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