Impact of Agricultural and Trade Policy Reform on land-use within the EU

Land Economics/Use,

Assessing the potential delivery of ecosystem services by farmlands under contrasting management intensities

Research, part of a Special Feature on High Nature Value Farming Systems in EuropeFarming systems under contrasting management practices can contribute differently to the delivery of bundles of ecosystem services (ES) in agricultural landscapes. Low intensity farming systems, such as High Nature Value farmlands, are expected to deliver a wider range of ES, whereas landscapes under more intensive management are expected to deliver mainly provisioning services. Understanding the management practices associated with desirable outcomes in terms of biodiversity and ES in agricultural landscapes is needed. Our research aimed to understand the links between the delivery of ES bundles associated with agricultural landscapes, and their socio-ecological drivers, using a region in northern Portugal as a case study. Based on publicly available data on ecosystems services and drivers, we analyzed ES associations, delineated ES bundles, and investigated their relationship with socioecological drivers. Overall, our results suggested spatial trade-offs between landscapes delivering provisioning services of high economic value, and landscapes delivering a more balanced set of multiple ES. Bundle analysis highlighted an association between higher landscape multifunctionality and higher values of landscape complexity, higher number of farmers, and farm sizes. Our results reflected the complexity of social and ecological factors operating at the landscape level, pinpointed landscapes with higher multifunctionality and disclosed the conditions underlying their occurrence. The results also highlighted the importance of low-intensity farming systems, namely those supporting High Nature Value farmlands, for the delivery of a wider range of ES at the landscape scaleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Investigating hill sheep farmers and crofters’ experiences of blackloss in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland

Hill sheep farming is an important component of Scottish agriculture and comprises a significant land use in much of the Highlands and Islands. However it faces significant challenges due to the natural constraints of the landscape. Hill sheep farming uses hardy traditional breeds, such as the Scottish blackface and North Country Cheviot to graze extensive areas, where the sheep are not housed and tend to lamb on the open hill. Flocks are gathered several times a year for stock checks, husbandry, and health treatments. Between these handling events, stock will disappear and be unaccounted for. These unexplained losses are known as blackloss in the Highlands and Islands. Previously reported figures for annual lamb blackloss give an average of 18.6%. These losses are in addition to the known losses of lambs and represent a significant welfare and sustainability issue. High parasite burdens, predation, a photosensitisation disease known as plochteach or yellowses, and poor nutrition are often given as presumed reasons for blackloss. A questionnaire was developed to assess the experiences, impacts and understanding flock managers have of blackloss. Typology analysis using partitioning around medoids was used to cluster respondents into three distinct groups: 1- very large extensive farms and Sheep Stock Clubs, 2- medium sized farms, and 3- small-scale crofts. The responses of these groups were subsequently analysed to see if their experiences and perceptions of blackloss differed with relation to lamb health challenges and predation impacts. The groups reported similar health challenges, apart from Group 1 which had a significantly higher plochteach challenge. In terms of predators, Group 1 also perceived white-tailed eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla) as a much higher threat to their lambs than the other groups. It was observed that many of the respondents believed blackloss is inevitable and that predators pose a large threat to lambs. However, most agreed that reducing these losses is important and that understanding the causes would enable them to do so.</p

Integrating quantitative and qualitative data in assessing the cost-effectiveness of biodiversity conservation programmes

Globally, most biodiversity conservation programmes are not currently evaluated in terms of their costs and benefits, or their rate of return on the original investment. Assessing the cost-effectiveness of such schemes is challenging as the relationship between spending and the effectiveness of conservation is dependent on many biological and socio-economic factors. Here, we evaluate the cost-effectiveness of a selection of species and habitat conservation schemes undertaken through the Scotland Rural Development Programme. We use a combination of quantitative and qualitative data, based on expert knowledge, to estimate effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of different schemes and understand variations in the results. Our findings highlight a lack of geographical targeting in terms of where the funding might achieve the most conservation benefit, which may be contributing to high costs per unit of effectiveness. Recommendations include the need for improved advice on appropriate management and monitoring programmes that are linked closely to objectives. Conservation schemes within Scotland were used as the focus of the study, but the approaches used, interpretations drawn and improvements identified could be applied to any regional, national or international biodiversity conservation programmes. Cost and effectiveness data can be subject to a high degree of uncertainty and hence any cost-effectiveness estimate is subject to a number of caveats. There is therefore a need to focus not only on improving the cost-effectiveness of biodiversity conservation programmes, but also to improve the robustness of cost-effectiveness assessments, in terms of data availability and accuracy and improved monitoring of the outcomes of interventions

Estimating demographic contributions to effective population size in an age-structured wild population experiencing environmental and demographic stochasticity

We thank everyone who helped with fieldwork on Islay, in particular Sue Bignal and Pat Monaghan, as well as all land-owners and farmers who allowed access to nest sites. We thank Bernt-Erik Sӕther, Steinar Engen and Henrik Jensen for their generous help and discussions. AET was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council and Scottish Natural Heritage. JMR was supported by the European Research Council.Peer reviewedPostprin

Population ecology and conservation of red-billed choughs in Scotland. Final report on Knowledge Transfer Project

This report summarises the results of a Knowledge Transfer Research Project that was undertaken by Dr Jane Reid (University of Aberdeen), Professor Pat Monaghan, (University of Glasgow), Dr Eric and Mrs Sue Bignal (Scottish Chough Study Group) and Dr Davy McCracken (Scottish Agricultural College). Dr Maria Bogdanova was employed as the postdoctoral research assistant on the project. The work was carried out in partnership with Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). Funding was provided by a Knowledge Transfer Grant from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC, PIs P. Monaghan & J. Reid), with matching partnership funding and in-kind support from SNH and RSPB. The overall aims of the project were to develop the scientific understanding of the population ecology of choughs on Islay, and to use this understanding to inform the development of appropriate conservation strategies and policies. The project built on existing long-term research on Islay’s choughs. It involved further analysis of long-term data, plus two years of intensive fieldwork designed to answer specific questions. The work aimed primarily to understand the ecology of choughs in their sub-adult years (ie, from fledging to breeding age). Survival from fledging to breeding is a key factor in causing population change. However, relatively little was previously known about the behaviour and ecology of choughs during this time. This report provides an overview of the results of the scientific study and focuses on presenting the scientific evidence on which resulting recommendations for chough conservation management on Islay are based. The report is written with the intention of presenting the results of the data analyses, and the rationale underlying those analyses, in a way that is accessible to non-specialists. Further details of analyses and technicalities are provided in published, peer-reviewed papers and/or are available on request. The report provides information that will be of use to policy makers and conservation practitioners, and also highlights topics where further research is required before informed management decisions can be taken

Integrating advances in population and evolutionary ecology with conservation strategy through long-term studies of red-billed choughs

Acknowledgements The long-term study could not have been achieved without long-term support from numerous people, including Islay farmers and land-owners who facilitated access to nest sites and observation locations; all current and previous members of the Scottish Chough Forum; and NatureScot and RSPB (summarised in Appendix S2). We particularly thank Rae McKenzie of NatureScot, without whose enthusiasm and willingness to engage with apparently abstract ideas we would likely never have got beyond phase 1. Aspects of the work were funded by Natural Environment Research Council, NatureScot, University of Aberdeen, University of Glasgow, RSPB, Scottish Government’s Strategic Research Programme, Scotland’s Rural College, Killam Trusts and the Royal Society (details in Appendix S2). We thank David Jardine for his valuable contributions, and Rae McKenzie, Jess Shaw and Morven Laurie (NatureScot), and Jen Smart, Gillian Gilbert, Jack Fleming and Paul Walton (RSPB) for commenting on a manuscript draft.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Within-year and among-year variation in impacts of targeted conservation management on juvenile survival in a threatened population

Acknowledgements We thank all Islay landowners and farmers who allowed access to nest sites and supported supplementary feeding, especially Donald Jones and Robert and Tom Epps, and everyone who contributed to fieldwork and data collection. We thank NatureScot for funding supplementary feeding, led by Rae McKenzie, Jess Shaw and Des Thompson, and Royal Society for the Protection of Birds for logistic support. This work was supported by a Natural Environment Research Council iCASE studentship (NE/P009719/1) with NatureScot, and the Scottish Government’s 2011-2016 and 2016-2021 Strategic Research Programmes. Open access via Wiley agreement.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Long‐term effects of management intensity and bioclimatic variables on leatherjacket ( Tipula paludosa Meigen) populations at farm scale

Leatherjackets (Tipula spp.) are soil‐dwelling pests associated with agriculture. Land management decisions made at farm scale can have subsequent effects on their populations. Between 1980 and 2020, surveys were conducted across Scotland to collect field histories and larval population data from grassland farms. To assess the impact of management and bioclimatic factors on leatherjacket occurrence over time, this study investigated data from fields continuously sampled between 2009 and 2018. We utilized a Generalized Linear Mixed‐Effect Model on a dataset of 61 fields on 19 farms. Results indicated three significant factors affecting larval populations; field size, grazing type and application of insecticides or herbicides (referred to collectively as pesticides). Larval populations were significantly lower in fields that were larger in size and under sheep grazing, compared to no grazing. Pesticide application also caused a significant reduction in larval populations. Management variables were amalgamated to create a Management Intensity Index, revealing significantly increased larval populations under low‐management systems. These results, coupled with significant effects of bioclimatic variables, pinpoint predictive signals for high infestations and potential routes for control strategies