Evidence of a twofold ecological trap driven by agricultural change causing a priority farmland bird population crash

Abstract

Abstract Extensive farmland in Europe hosts high biodiversity levels but is threatened by land use changes associated with market and agricultural policy drivers. We show that a nationwide replacement of rainfed cereals in favor of beef production in Portugal has coincided with a nearly 80% decline in the population of a ground‐nesting raptor, the Montagu's harrier Circus pygargus, since 2002. Reduced cereal crop cover led to nesting attempts occurring mostly in fodder crops, the predominant habitat with suitable sward structure at the onset of breeding. This results in a twofold ecological trap: early hay harvesting destroys first nesting attempts, whereas late cereal harvesting destroys replacement clutches. This double phenological mismatch prevents any breeding success and likely explains the country's observed population decline of Montagu's harriers and other key farmland birds. Reforming current agroenvironmental schemes to promote practices compatible with wild population phenology is paramount to revert these changes.

Keywords

• biodiversity conservation
• common agricultural policy
• harvesting
• high nature value farmlands
• land‐use change
• nest destruction