Positive short-term effects of sheep grazing on the alpine avifauna

Loe, Leif Egil; Mysterud, Atle; Stien, Audun; Steen, Harald; Evans, Darren M.; Austrheim, Gunnar. 2007 Positive short-term effects of sheep grazing on the alpine avifauna. Biology Letters, 3 (1). 109-111. 10.1098/rsbl.2006.0571

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Abstract/Summary

Grazing by large herbivores may negatively affect bird populations. This is of great conservation concern in areas with intensive sheep grazing. Sheep management varies substantially between regions, but no study has been performed in less intensively grazed systems. In a fully replicated, landscape scale experiment with three levels of sheep grazing, we tested whether the abundance and diversity of an assemblage of mountain birds were negatively affected by grazing or if grazing facilitated the bird assemblage. Density of birds was higher at high sheep density compared with low sheep density or no sheep by the fourth grazing season, while there was no clear effect on bird diversity. Thus, agricultural traditions and land use politics determining sheep density may change the density of avifauna in either positive or negative directions.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1098/rsbl.2006.0571
Programmes:	CEH Programmes pre-2009 publications > Biodiversity
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	_ Biodiversity & Population Processes
ISSN:	1744-9561
Additional Keywords:	ecosystem function, livestock, biodiversity, birds, facilitation, trophic cascades
NORA Subject Terms:	Agriculture and Soil Science Zoology Ecology and Environment
Date made live:	25 Jan 2008 10:30 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/2197

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