Agricultural and forest bird species index

Dátum poslednej aktualizácie:20.12.2023

Téma

Značky

Definícia indikátora

The indicator uses an index to assess changes in the abundance of 20 bird species associated with agricultural landscapes and 18 bird species associated with forest landscapes in Slovakia.

Jednotka indikátora

Index

Metadáta

Methodology:

The indicator evaluates the variability in the abundance of farmland and forest bird species in the Slovak Republic.

Methods of birds monitoring

The abundance of common bird species was observed using the point transect method (Kropil 1994)
In 2005-2020, many censors, mainly members and collaborators of SOS/Birdlife Slovakia participated in the bird census. Knowledge of visual and acoustic bird identification was the condition for participation in this program.
For each transect, 20 points were determined at a minimum distance of 300 m apart.
The census took 5 minutes at each point. It was set to take place from 25 April to 31 May each year, with the possibility of mapping later at mid and high altitudes, usually by the end of June.
Counting on individual transects was carried out once a season, if the mapper's options were available, after agreement with the coordinator, more inspections of one transect (two to three) were carried out in one season. The number of visits to individual transects was usually repeated in subsequent years.

To calculate the total population index of farmland species (Gregory et al. 2005), variability in the abundance of the following 20 species were used:

Alauda arvensis, Carduelis cannabina, Carduelis carduelis, Emberiza calandra, Emberiza citrinella, Falco tinnunculus, Hirundo rustica, Chloris chloris, Lanius collurio, Locustella naevia, Motacilla flava, Passer montanus, Saxicola rubetra, Saxicola torquata, Serinus serinus, Streptopelia turtur, Sturnus vulgaris, Sylvia communis, Sylvia nisoria, Vanellus vanellus.

The trend in the abundance for forest species, and its index of variability in abundance was defined for 18 selected species of forest birds. For the calculation of the index of forest species, data on the abundance of the following 27 species were included in the calculations:

Anthus trivialis, Carduelis spinus, Certhia brachydactyla, Certhia familiaris, Coccothraustes coccothraustes, Columba oenas, Dendrocopos major, Dendrocopos medius, Dryocopus martius, Ficedula albicollis, Ficedula parva, Garrulus glandarius, Nucifraga caryocatactes, Oriolus oriolus, Parus ater, Parus cristatus, Parus montanus, Parus palustris, Phoenicurus phoenicurus, Phylloscopus collybita, Phylloscopus sibilatrix, Picus canus, Pyrrhula pyrrhula, Regulus ignicapilla, Regulus regulus, Sitta europaea, Turdus viscivorus.

The list of these species was chosen to correspond as closely as possible to the list of species used for the calculation of the forest species index at the pan-European level (PECBM 2009).

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Citations:

Inger, R., Gregory, R., Duffy, J.P., Stott, I., Voříšek, P. Gaston, K.J. (2015): Common European birds are declining rapidly while less abundant species´ numbers are rising. Ecology Letters 18 (1): 28-36.

Kropil, R. Methodology of the bird census program in Slovakia. Tichodroma 7, 138–145 (1994).

Pannekoek, J. & van Strien, A. Statistics Netherlands TRIM 3 Manual (TRends & Indices for Monitoring data). (2001).

PECBMS 2009: Klvanova, A., Vorisek, P., Gregory, R., van Strien, A. J. & Meyling, A. G. Wild birds as indicators in Europe: latest results from the Pan-European Common Bird Monitoring Scheme (PECBMS). Avocetta 33, 7–12 (2009).

Gregory, R. D. et al. Developing indicators for European birds. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 360, 269–288 (2005).

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Location of monitored transects in Slovakia in the years 2005-2020
Map: Location of monitored transects in Slovakia in the years 2005-2020

Data sources:

SOS/BirdLife Slovakia
Annual report on the implementation of the Rural Development Program of the Slovak Republic 2014 – 2020 for the year 2018
Hološková A. (2022). Vyhodnotenie trendov početnosti vtákov poľnohospodárskej krajiny, príčiny ohrozenia a odporúčania pre manažment ich biotopov. SOS/BirdLife Slovensko, Bratislava.

Related indicators:

Related international indicators:

Linked references:

Väzba indikátora k rozvojovým dokumentom a cieľom

Greener Slovakia – Strategy of the Environmental Policy of the Slovak Republic until 2030 (Envirostrategy 2030) (2019)

Slovakia will prevent the deterioration of protected species and habitats.

The assessment and appropriate completion of protected areas scheme as well as drafting, approval and implementation of documents will provide protection opportunities for all significant species and habitats in the SR.

2.1 Stopping the Loss of Biodiversity

Conditions will be created for minimising of the negative impacts of anthropogenic activity, including the impact of climate change which are causing a loss of diversity of plant and animal species and a loss of biotopes, and the enforceability of laws related to nature protection will improve.
The completion of the national part of the Natura 2000 network of protected areas and the systems of internationally important territories with appropriate protection, will further enhance the conditions for the protection of internationally and nationally important species and habitats and they will also increase the contribution of the Slovak Republic to halting the global loss of biodiversity.
Until 2030, at a minimum, 15% of degraded ecosystems in Slovakia will be regenerated such as those above the timber-line, but especially salt marshes, wetlands, peatlands, alluvial forests that are significantly impacted by human activity.
The protection of primeval forests and their habitat, as well as an appropriate management of their protection zones will be ensured.
In cooperation with owners and land managers, via utilization of all available resources, the protection and restoration of forests, meadows and pastures that represent the highest biodiversity ecosystems and the creation of a groforestry systems will be supported.
State institutions, in collaboration with academic institutions, expert organisations and nongovernmental organisations will regularly update the red lists of endangered species and biotopes and recommend measures for their saving.
In the area of combating illegal hunting, poisoning, killing of animals, stealing and damaging plants and trafficking in endangered species, the cooperation of the relevant departments and organizations will be strengthened.
Hunting and other activities will respect the needs of protected species and habitats.
Hunting of decreasing, vulnerable and migratory species of protected animals will be carried out in accordance with the international obligations of the Slovak Republic.

3.2 Protection and Restoration of Landscape Elements on Agricultural Land

By 2030, a gradual restoration of landscape elements will take place on agricultural land. Field groves, dense strips of the wooded area, solitary trees and other landscape elements serve both as a corridor, windbreak, anti-erosion measures, and at the same time, as an area with various protected plant species and animal shelters.

4.1 Sustainable Timber Harvesting

Forest conservation programs will obligatorily contain conditions for the protection of species of animals, plants, fungi and their habitats relating to the protection of wooded land, for each individual part of woodland, where the compliance with the law on protection of nature and countryside is applicable.

The updated National Biodiversity Strategy up to 2020 (2014)

Area A: Nature protection

Objective A.1 To stop the deterioration of the status of all species and habitats, especially those covered by the EU legislation and achieve a significant and measurable improvement in their status.

Area C: Biodiversity Conservation in the state policy of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

Objective C.4 By 2020, implement biodiversity promoting measures of the Common Agricultural Policy so as to measurably improve the conservation status of species and habitats.

Objective C.5 Within the implementation of caring for forests programs, to ensure the measurable improvement in the conservation status of those species and habitats that depend on sound forest environment or on which the forestry has a major impact, and ensure measurable improvement in the provision of ecosystem services in line with sustainable forest management compared to the reference scenario of the EU (2010).

Action plan for implementation of measures resulting from the updated National Biodiversity Strategy up to 2020 (2014)

Area A

Objective A.1
Achieving the EU´s objective: up to 2020, to stop the deterioration of the status of all species and habitats, and achieve a significant and measurable improvement in their status so that (compared to the current assessment) by 100% more habitat assessments and by 50% more species assessments under the Habitats Directive would show improvement in the conservation status, and by 50% more species assessment within the Birds Directive would show a secure or improved status.

In order to achieve the target for birds, the conservation status of at least 64 species – in particular for those for which protected bird areas are declared – should be improved. Improvements were proposed for example for Black Stork, Great Bustard, Field Hyrax, Western Capercaillie, birds of prey and wetland habitat species.

Measure A.1.1 Consistently implement the Birds Directive and the Habitats Directive, adopted resolutions and decisions of international conventions, organizations and programs and improved national legislation in order to strengthen the protection of species and habitats and also link the network of protected areas on a scientific basis

Proposed tasks:
3. To monitor the species and habitats of European importance
4. To ensure the development and update of red lists of endangered species of Slovakia and selected regions
8. To improve nesting possibilities of selected and also other bird species in the Special protection areas (SPAs) and in urban habitats, and ensure the mapping and protection of feeding habitats of criteria species of birds in SPA
9. To eliminate the death of birds on power lines and bats and birds when insulating buildings.

Area C
Objective C.4

Measure C.4.3 Identify species and habitats dependent of specific farming methods and develop and implement specific measures with the support of European Funds to improve their conservation status.

Proposed tasks:
107. Implement the Rural Development Program (RDP) scheme „conservation of permanent grassland habitats“, „European Ground Squirrel conservation“ and „Great Bustard conservation“ within „agri-environment-climate measure“.

Kľúčová otázka

What is the development in the abundance of agricultural and forest bird species?

Kľúčové zistenia

The abundance of birds of agricultural landscapes in Slovakia is decreasing (compared to 2005 by 29.2 p.p.).
Most open country species have a long-term declining trend in abundance and also very small populations at the same time.
The species bound to the lowland areas of the agrarian country are the most endangered.
The abundance of selected forest landscape bird species has also decreased since 2005, by 11.4 p.p., but their long-term trend is not gradual, but rather fluctuating.
In the medium term (since 2015), a 20.9 p.p. decrease in the number of birds of agricultural land was recorded, while an increase of about 6 p.p. was recorded in the case of forest species.
In most cases, agricultural intensification has been identified as the main cause of population changes in field birds.

Change since 2005	Change since 2015	Last year-on-year change

In the evaluated period of 2005 – 2021, there is a decrease in the abundance of birds in agricultural and forest landscapes.	In the medium term, the abundance of birds in the agricultural landscape continues to decrease, but in the case of forest species, after a fluctuating trend, a slight increase can be observed.	Year-on-year, the abundance of birds in the agricultural landscape decreased and the number of birds in the forest landscape increased.

Sumárne zhodnotenie

Podrobné zhodnotenie

Birds are important components of ecosystem conservation. The existence and abundance of birds is directly linked to habitat biodiversity, being one of its most important components. Birds react very sensitively to the changes in landscape use and indicates the overall state of biodiversity. Being the top ranks of the food pyramid, birds are considered to be a bioindicator to assess change in biodiversity on at both European and national levels.

Farming in Europe has undergone profound changes both in the use of agricultural and forest landscapes. In much of Europe, this has meant an intensification of farming, which in resulted in greater pressures on nature. This pressure was reflected in overall biodiversity, inthe changes in the abundance of birds, especially in non-forest landscapes.

Farmland birds

The common agricultural policy of the EU caused a dramatic decline in the abundance of farmland bird species. The abundance of skylarks has decreased by 49% and the abundance of Crested Lark has decreased by 98% since the beginning of the 1980s. This decline has not been stopped yet, and even the most recent bird monitoring data at a pan-European level point to the continuing decline of common bird species (Inger et al. 2015).

Several species bound to the agricultural landscape (e.g. Emberiza hortulana, Lanius senator, Monticola saxatilis, Limosa limosa, Numenius arquata) have become completely extinct.

On the brink of extinction in Slovakia are Coracias garrulus, Falco vespertinus and Otis tarda. And some common species, such as Perdix perdix, have declined sharply (its abundance in Slovakia has dropped by 99%).

The pan-European population index of common field birds (Farmland Bird Index) decreased by almost 60 p.p. between 1980 and 2019. Among all bird species in agricultural land, ground-nesting species, particularly those that feed primarily on insects, have experienced the greatest population decline.

Since 2005, the abundance of certain farmland bird species on national level has declined by 29.2 p.p.

Although there was a slight increase in the abundance in the first years of monitoring, since 2010 we have observed a continuous decrease in the abundance of farmland birds. Systematic monitoring, however, captures a relatively short period of time, and if we take into account the trends in the abundance of farmland birds in the surrounding countries, where monitoring has been ongoing for a long time, it can be assumed that declines in abundance occurred even in our country before 2005.

Of the 20 species included in the index, 2 species had a strong decrease in abundance (Locustella naevia and Saxicola rubetra), 5 species had a moderate decrease in abundance (Emberiza calandra, Streptopelia turtur, Chloris chloris, Serinus serinus and Sylvia communis). Eight species had an evaluated stable abundance trend (Saxicola rubicola, Hirundo rustica, Alauda arvensis, Lanius collurio, Emberiza citrinella, Passer montanus, Carduelis carduelis and Sturnus vulgaris), the remaining 5 species had an uncertain trend (Vanellus vanellus, Motacilla flava, Curruca nisoria, Falco tinnunculus and Linaria cannabina).

Trends in the abundance of farmland birds (FBI) at the national and European level expressed by abundance index

Year	Europe FBI (index 1980=100)	Europe FBI (n=39) (index 2005=100)	Slovakia FBI (n=20) (index 2005=100)
1980	100	201.8163
1981	95.8	193.3401
1982	91.48	184.6216
1983	87.24	176.0646
1984	83.21	167.9314
1985	79.53	160.5045
1986	76.31	154.0061
1987	73.3	147.9314
1988	70.31	141.8971
1989	67.46	136.1453
1990	64.84	130.8577
1991	62.51	126.1554
1992	60.57	122.2402
1993	59.06	119.1927
1994	57.91	116.8718
1995	57.01	115.0555
1996	56.27	113.5621
1997	55.59	112.1897
1998	54.87	110.7366
1999	54.04	109.0616
2000	53.16	107.2856
2001	52.37	105.6912
2002	51.62	104.1776
2003	50.92	102.7649
2004	50.23	101.3724
2005	49.55	100	100
2006	48.85	98.58729	108.6527
2007	48.16	97.19475	114.9681
2008	47.49	95.84258	113.8367
2009	46.84	94.53078	116.0508
2010	46.21	93.25933	99.16263
2011	45.61	92.04844	97.92695
2012	45.01	90.83754	98.97496
2013	44.43	89.667	89.27806
2014	43.87	88.53683	93.6337
2015	43.31	87.40666	91.72672
2016	42.78	86.33703	92.77016
2017	42.25	85.26741	90.54462
2018	41.74	84.23814	80.89872
2019	41.25	83.24924	82.29705
2020			85.28374
2021			70.82697

Source: SOS Birdlife

Note: FBI – Farmland bird index

Index of variability in the abundance of farmland bird species explains the changes in the biodiversity of agricultural landscapes from a broader perspective, given the changes in the abundance of individual species are very diverse.

Comparison of development in areas, where agri-environmental payments are applied

(available until 2018)

Trend in the index of variation in the abundance of farmland bird species, including areas with applied agro-environmental schemes

Source: SOS/BirdLife Slovakia
Note:
black line – total in the Slovak Republic
yellow line – areas where agri-environmental payments are applied

The evaluation of changes in the abundance of common and rare bird species in Slovakia in relation to the measures of the RDP of Slovakia 2014-2020 (SOS / Birdlife, 2019) shows that the overall situation on areas with applied agri-environmental payments was slightly better than at national level. This is demonstrated through a rather positive classification trends for certain species (for example for Yellowhammer) and increasing trends for two other species, while there were no increases on national level.

However, the overall situation on areas, where agri-environmental payments are applied is not ideal. 10 species are declining in abundance, while 8 species are increasing. Therefore, the negative trends prevail even in these areas (as a consequence of inadequate implementation of agri-environmental measures for nesting birds). On the other hand, the said decline has been moderate and in some species no decline was recorded, which may be a consequences of a generally more environmentally friendly approach to biodiversity conservation in areas, where agri-environmental payments are applied. When compared their status with the year 2005, the abundance of birds declined by 4 %.

In 2009, the abundance of bird species at the national level was 19% higher than in 2005 and in areas where agri-environmental payments were applied the abundance was 73% higher. Since 2009, however, the abundance in areas with agri-environmental measures applied has declined more significantly, than at the national level. In 2015, the variability in the abundance since 2005 was similar both at the national level and in areas with applied agri-environmental payments.

Such a negative development is linked with a lack of schemes in agri-environmental payments, that would directly target farmland bird species. The existing schemes don´t consider the needs of farmland bird species adequately.

The evaluation of abundance trends for individual species highlights more positive trends for species in areas, where agri-environmental payments are applied. For several species, the trend in areas where agri-environmental payments are applied showed more positive results in comparison with the national level (European Goldfinch, Yellowhammer, and Common Whitethroat). These species benefited from a biodiversity conservation sensitive management in areas, where agri-environmental payments were applied.

Nevertheless, this was not enough to prevent a decline in the overall index of farmland bird species in areas where agri-environmental payments are applied since 2009. The reason behind this is:

A negative trend in long-term migrant bird species – in species that winter in sub-Saharan Africa (illegal hunting and habitat changes on wintering sites and migration routes), as well as
Negative trends in species, whose needs where not adequately taken into account within agro-environmental payments

Forest bird species

Trends in abundance of forest bird species at the national and European level expressed by abundance index

Rok	EU Forest Bird Index (index 1980=100)	EU Forest Bird Index (n=34) (index 2005=100)	SK Forest Bird Index (n=18) (index 2005=100)
1980	100	112.0574
1981	100.05	112.1134
1982	100.01	112.0686
1983	99.88	111.9229
1984	99.69	111.7100
1985	99.47	111.4635
1986	99.23	111.1945
1987	98.95	110.8808
1988	98.58	110.4662
1989	98.16	109.9955
1990	97.71	109.4913
1991	97.24	108.9646
1992	96.78	108.4491
1993	96.30	107.9113
1994	95.74	107.2837
1995	95.15	106.6226
1996	94.54	105.9390
1997	93.93	105.2555
1998	93.34	104.5944
1999	92.79	103.9780
2000	92.22	103.3393
2001	91.57	102.6109
2002	90.88	101.8377
2003	90.24	101.1206
2004	89.67	100.4818
2005	89.24	100	100
2006	89.01	99.74227	83.37409
2007	88.91	99.63021	90.47903
2008	88.84	99.55177	102.7124
2009	88.84	99.55177	86.23429
2010	88.91	99.63021	92.87898
2011	89.05	99.78709	89.57373
2012	89.27	100.0336	74.74746
2013	89.58	100.3810	69.68374
2014	89.99	100.8404	84.71061
2015	90.47	101.3783	82.67665
2016	91.06	102.0394	100.27200
2017	91.71	102.7678	93.37778
2018	92.46	103.6082	69.14075
2019	93.28	104.5271	71.17419
2020			84.58628
2021			88.63923

Source: SOS Birdlife

Assessment of the status and trend of birds bound to forest ecosystems in 2005-2015

In the years 2005-2015, as part of the monitoring of trends in common bird species, 117-160 bird species (8,530-18,597 individuals) were recorded in Slovakia. However, due to insufficient data for some species, trends were evaluated for only 102 of them.
Of the 27 evaluated species, a demonstrable trend was found in 12 species at the national level.
A stable trend was found in Coccothraustes coccothraustes, Dendrocopos major, Parus ater and Phylloscopus collybita.
A slight decrease was detected in Anthus trivialis, Ficedula albicollis,Garrulus glandarius, Phylloscopus sibilatrix and Pyrrhula pyrrhula.
Strong decline in Nucifraga caryocatactes.
A slight increase was found in Certhia familiaris and Sitta europaea.
For the other species, the trend was classified as uncertain, with 10 of these species showing a decreasing trend in abundance and 5 showing an increasing trend. Overall, after evaluating the index of changes in the abundance of forest bird species, the abundance shows a decreasing tendency. Compared to 2005, the abundance of all species included in the index of forest species decreased by more than 20%.
The overall decrease in their abundance can be primarily traced to the decay of mountain spruce trees and the subsequent logging of calamities and windbreaks in previous years, which caused the decay of the forest on some monitored transects (for example, on Orava or in Stolické vrchy).

Comparison of development in areas supporting the forest-environment (RDP implementation in the Slovak Republic)

(available until 2018)

Based on the obtained data and subsequent analyzes (Ridzoň, J., 2019), it is clear that the index of changes in the abundance of bird species is significantly positive in the territories with the implementation of Rural Development Programme of the SR (RDP SR) measures (M12 and M15) compared to the Slovak average.

Trend in the index of variation in the abundance of forest bird species on a national level, including areas with the support of forest-environmental payments (implementation of RDP SR)

Source: SOS/BirdLife Slovakia
Note: orange line – total in the Slovak Republic
blue line – areas where forest-environmental payments are applied

The abundance of forest species is moderately increasing in areas where the RDP measures are applied (the year 2018 is specific, similarly on the national level). A positive trend for bird population in areas supporting the forest-environment is recorded for the majority of individual monitored forest bird species. 11 out of 18 monitored species show positive trends in abundance (61% of the monitored species).

In areas where measures M12 and M15 are applied show considerably greater progress than the national average. In areas, where forest-environmental payments are applied show a stable and positive direction ) in bird abundance over longer-term horizon (2010-2018).
In 2018 (when a decline was recording on the national level as well as in areas with RDP implementation) the development of the index can be assessed as a consequence of fluctuation (as in other years).

Kontakt na spracovateľa

Mgr. Peter Kapusta, SAŽP, peter.kapusta@sazp.sk