Diversitatea speciilor de păsări în culturi energetice de plop cu ciclu scurt de producţie: o comparație cu alte categorii de folosinţă a terenurilor [Bird species diversity in poplar plantations: a comparison with different land use categories]

Abstract

The energy poplar plantations are in expansion in the north-eastern Romania, so the aim of our study was to investigate the influence of these plantations on avian diversity. We carried out bird counts in two experimental blocks of 10 ha, where semi-natural forest vegetation, pastures, poplar plantations and agricultural land live in similar surface areas. The bird richness and abundance are the highest in forest vegetation, followed by agricultural lands, pastures and poplar plantations; the last ones are used by birds only for foraging, not for nesting and breeding. The landscape parameter analysis reveals for now a high variability due to relatively small size patches with different land uses, with complex edges and adequate connectivity, offering proper conditions for diverse bird species. The trend of extending the agricultural monocultures (especially colza) and poplar plantations observed in the last years will have a negative impact on local bird communities. If this going to be the case, in order to soften this effect, it is advisable to avoid large areas with simple edges of poplar or agricultural plantations, to maintain the hedgerows alongside plantations and the areas with different land use to alternate in space.

Keywords

• poplar plantations
• bird diversity
• landscape
• land use change