Bringing out the best in wild birds on farms
Natural habitat maximizes the benefits of birds for farmers, food safety,
and conservation
Date:
February 23, 2022
Source:
University of California - Davis
Summary:
After an E.coli outbreak in 2006 devastated the spinach industry,
farmers were pressured to remove natural habitat to keep wildlife
-- and the foodborne pathogens they can sometimes carry -- from
visiting crops. A study of California strawberry farms found that
birds were actually more likely to carry pathogens and eat berries
when farms did not have surrounding natural habitat.
FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A supportive environment can bring out the best in an individual --
even for a bird.
========================================================================== After an E.colioutbreak in 2006 devastated the spinach industry, farmers
were pressured to remove natural habitat to keep wildlife -- and the
foodborne pathogens they can sometimes carry -- from visiting crops. A
study published today from the University of California, Davis, shows
that farms with surrounding natural habitat experience the most benefits
from birds, including less crop damage and lower food-safety risks.
The study, published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, was conducted at
21 strawberry fields along California's Central Coast. It found that birds
were more likely to carry pathogens and eat berries without surrounding
natural habitat.
The authors said a better understanding of the interplay of farming
practices, the landscape, and the roles birds play in ecosystems can
help growers make the most out of wild birds near their fields.
"Bird communities respond to changes in the landscape," said lead author
Elissa Olimpi, a postdoctoral scholar in the UC Davis Department of
Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology at the time of the study. "As
birds shift in response to management, so do the costs and benefits
they provide." The single most important driver The study looked at
how different farming practices influenced the costs and benefits that
wild birds provided on the strawberry farms. The scientists combined
nearly 300 bird surveys and the molecular analyses of more than 1,000
fecal samples from 55 bird species to determine which birds ate pests, beneficial insects and crops, and carried foodborne pathogens.
==========================================================================
They also ranked birds to see which were more likely to bring benefits
or costs to farmlands. Barn swallows, for instance, got a "gold star"
in the study, Olimpi said. Their mud nests are commonly seen clinging
to the underside of barn eaves, from which they fly out to swoop over
fields, foraging on insects.
But rather than resulting in a list of "good" and "bad" birds, the study
found that most bird species brought both costs and benefits to farms, depending on how the landscape was managed.
The presence of natural habitat was the single most important driver differentiating a farm where wild birds brought more benefits than harm.
"Nature is messy, and birds are complex," Olimpi said. "The best we can
do is understand how to take advantage of the benefits while reducing
the harms.
Growers will tell you it's impossible to keep birds off your farm -- you
can't do that and don't want to from a conservation perspective. So how
can we take advantage of the services birds provide?" Win-wins for birds
and farms The study is one of several publications from UC Davis professor Daniel Karp's lab highlighting the environmental, agricultural, and food
safety impacts of conserving bird habitat around farms. A related study in
2020 found that farms with natural habitat attracted more insect-eating
birds -- and fewer strawberry-eating birds -- so that farmers experience
less berry damage on farms with more habitat nearby. Such habitats also
bring greater numbers of bird species to the landscape.
==========================================================================
"All together, these studies suggest that farming landscapes with natural habitat tend to be good for conservation, farmers, and public health,"
said Karp.
Elissa Olimpi of UC Davis describes how pest problems increase without
bird habitat surrounding Central Coast strawberry farms in this video
by Wild Farm Alliance.
Additional co-authors of this study include Karina Garcia and David
Gonthier of University of Kentucky, Claire Kremen of UC Berkeley and
the University of British Columbia, William E. Snyder of University of
Georgia, and Erin Wilson- Rankin of UC Riverside.
The research was funded by the USDA and UC Davis Department of Wildlife,
Fish and Conservation Biology.
========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
University_of_California_-_Davis. Original written by Kat Kerlin. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.
========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Elissa M. Olimpi, Karina Garcia, David J. Gonthier, Claire Kremen,
William E. Snyder, Erin E. Wilson‐Rankin, Daniel S. Karp.
Semi‐natural habitat surrounding farms promotes
multifunctionality in avian ecosystem services. Journal of Applied
Ecology, 2022; DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.14124 ==========================================================================
Link to news story:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220223104917.htm
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