Can hedgerow management mitigate the impacts of predation on songbird nest survival?

Nest predators can have significant impacts on songbird reproductive success. These impacts may be amplified by habitat simplification and here we test whether sympathetic management of farmland hedgerows can reduce nest depredation, especially by corvids. We test whether songbirds select nest sites according to structural features of hedgerows (including nest visibility and accessibility), and whether these features influence nest predation risk. Songbirds selected nesting sites affording higher vegetation cover above the nest, increased visibility on the nest-side of the hedgerow and reduced visibility on the far side of the hedge. Nest survival was unrelated to corvid abundance and only weakly related (at the egg stage) to corvid nest proximity. Nest survival at the chick stage was higher where vegetation structure restricted access to corvid-sized predators (averaging 0.78 vs. 0.53), and at nests close to potential vantage points. Overall nest survival was sensitive to hedgerow structure (accessibility) particularly at low exposure to corvid predation, while the overall impact of corvid exposure was dependent on the relationship involving proximity to vantage points. Nest survival over the chick stage was much higher (0.67) in stock-proof, trimmed and mechanically cut hedgerows, (which tended to provide lower side visibility and accessibility) than in recently laid, remnant or leggy hedgerows (0.18). Long-term reductions in the management of British hedgerows may therefore be exposing nesting songbirds to increased predation risk. We recommend regular rotational cutting of hedgerows to maintain a dense woody structure and thereby reduce songbird nest predation

Anthropogenically-mediated density dependence in a declining farmland bird

Land management intrinsically influences the distribution of animals and can consequently alter the potential for density-dependent processes to act within populations. For declining species, high densities of breeding territories are typically considered to represent productive populations. However, as density-dependent effects of food limitation or predator pressure may occur (especially when species are dependent upon separate nesting and foraging habitats), high territory density may limit per-capita productivity. Here, we use a declining but widespread European farmland bird, the yellowhammer Emberiza citrinella L., as a model system to test whether higher territory densities result in lower fledging success, parental provisioning rates or nestling growth rates compared to lower densities. Organic landscapes held higher territory densities, but nests on organic farms fledged fewer nestlings, translating to a 5 times higher rate of population shrinkage on organic farms compared to conventional. In addition, when parental provisioning behaviour was not restricted by predation risk (i.e. at times of low corvid activity), nestling provisioning rates were higher at lower territory densities, resulting in a much greater increase in nestling mass in low density areas, suggesting that food limitation occurred at high densities. These findings in turn suggest an ecological trap, whereby preferred nesting habitat does not provide sufficient food for rearing nestlings at high population density, creating a population sink. Habitat management for farmland birds should focus not simply on creating a high nesting density, but also on ensuring heterogeneous habitats to provide food resources in close proximity to nesting birds, even if this occurs through potentially restricting overall nest density but increasing population-level breeding success

Improving mb:Ms discrimination using phase matched filters derived from regional group velocity tomography

This study reports on the ongoing investigation of surface wave group velocity dispersion across the Middle East and North Africa. Using broadband data gathered from various sources, we have measured group velocity using a multiple narrow-band filter method. To date, we have examined over 13,500 seismograms and made quality measurements for about 6500 Rayleigh and 3500 Love wave paths. A conjugate gradient method is used to perform the group velocity tomography at several periods. There is excellent agreement between short period structure and large known sedimentary features. Longer period structure is sensitive to crustal thickness, particularly the contrast between continental and oceanic regions and thicker crusts found beneath erogenic zones. We also find slow upper mantle velocities along rift systems. Correlation between the inversion results and known major tectonic features gives us confidence in our surface wave group velocities. Accurate group velocity maps can be used to construct phase matched filters. The filters can improve weak surface waves by compressing the dispersed signal. We are particularly interested in using the filters to calculate regionally determined M{sub s} measurements, which we hope can be used to extend the threshold of m{sub b}:M{sub s} discriminants to lower magnitude levels. A preliminary analysis of surface wave data processed using phase matched filters indicates a significant improvement in increasing the signal-to-noise ratio and improving magnitude estimates. Where signal-to-noise is very poor, phase matched filtering can still be useful in lowering the upper bound on M{sub s} measurements. We propose a series of tests in order to analyze the utility of phase matched filters. Goals of the study include determining at what distance and magnitude ranges we can expect to see improvement using the filters and the overall effect of the filters on discrimination capability. We also propose to look at seismic velocity models of the Middle East and North Africa region in order to test the discrimination performance achieved using the various models