The contribution of roadside grassland restorations to native bee conservation

Marginal habitats such as hedgerows or roadsides become especially important for the conservation of biodiversity in highly modified landscapes. With concerns of a global pollination crisis, there is a need for improving pollinator habitat. Roadsides restored to native prairie vegetation may provide valuable habitat to bees, the most important group of pollinators. Such roadsides support a variety of pollen and nectar sources and unlike agricultural fields, are unplowed, and therefore can provide potential nesting sites for ground-nesting bees. To examine potential effects of roadside restoration, bee communities were sampled via aerial netting and pan trapping along roadside prairie restorations as well as roadsides dominated by non-native plants. Management of roadside vegetation via the planting of native species profoundly affected bee communities. Restored roadsides supported significantly greater bee abundances as well as higher species richness compared to weedy roadsides. Floral species richness, floral abundance, and percentage of bare ground were the factors that led to greater bee abundance and bee species richness along restored roadsides. Traffic and width of roadside did not significantly influence bees, suggesting that even relatively narrow verges near heavy traffic could provide valuable habitat to bees. Restored and weedy roadside bee communities were similar to the prairie remnant, but the prairie remnant was more similar in bee richness and abundance to restored roadsides. Restoring additional roadsides to native vegetation could benefit pollinator conservation efforts by improving habitat on the millions of acres of land devoted to roadsides worldwide, land that is already set aside from further development.     

Impacts of coffee agroforestry management on tropical bee communities

Though it is undoubted that tropical bees are influenced by habitat composition, few studies have investigated the relative importance of both local and landscape-level habitat parameters in supporting large and diverse bee communities. The conservation of native bee communities within agroforestry landscapes is particularly urgent given the importance of pollination services within these systems. In this study, we examined tropical bee communities within a largely deforested shade coffee-growing region in Chiapas, Mexico. We used regression tree modeling to examine the response of bee functional groups to local and landscape-level habitat management. Our models revealed that the most predictive factors for bee abundance and species richness were the number of tree species, the number of tree species in flower, and the canopy cover of the local agroforestry landscape. Solitary bees were most abundant in habitats with high canopy cover, while social bees were most abundant in habitats with greater tree species richness. Cavity-nesting and wood-nesting bee abundance was positively affected by the amount of canopy cover in the farm, while ground-nesting bees were most abundant in habitats with a large number of tree species in flower. Our results demonstrate that across bee sociality groups, nesting guilds, and tribes, the most critical factor impacting native bee communities was within-farm local vegetation management. These results reveal the important role that agroforestry managers can have on biodiversity conservation, and the potential contribution they can make by creating resource-rich agricultural matrices. Specifically, our findings highlight the importance of diverse overstory tree management in supporting native bee communities within tropical agroforestry systems.     

北京昌平区农业景观野生蜂多样性的时空动态分布

近年来,由于生境质量的下降和生境丧失,野生蜂多样性急剧下降,严重威胁传粉服务和农业的可持续发展。为揭示野生蜂在农业景观镶嵌体中的时空分布格局及不同生境对野生蜂保护的重要性,本研究于2016年4—9月采用网捕法调查了北京昌平农业景观4种主要生境类型(人工林、自然灌木林、荒草地和桃园)中的野生蜂,分析不同生境类型中野生蜂多样性及其时间动态变化特征。结果表明:野生蜂及其中的大体长蜂和独居蜂的物种数和个体数,以及中体长蜂的个体数均在自然灌木林中最高,人工林中小体长蜂个体数最多,野生蜂总个体数和总物种数均在桃园中最低。在不同月份,所有功能群野生蜂均在自然或半自然生境中最高,5月桃园中最低,原因可能与桃园中对地表杂草的集约化管理有关。多度最大的4个优势物种依次为黄胸彩带蜂、铜色隧蜂、黄芦蜂和隧淡脉隧蜂,其在生境间的时间动态特征不同。调查的4种生境均为野生蜂提供了可利用资源,但自然生境和半自然生境的作用更大;其中,自然灌木林维持了较多具有较高潜在传粉效率的中体长和大体长野生蜂,具有更高的保护价值。为了促进该地区农业景观中不同功能群野生蜂多样性及传粉服务,需提高生境类型的多样性,同时在野生蜂活动高峰季节采取低集约化的生境管理方式。     

Plant and spider communities benefit differently from the presence of planted hedgerows in highway verges

Road verges should play a crucial role as a refuge for native flora and fauna in human dominated landscapes. However, the influence of construction choices, such as plantation of woody species, on the biodiversity supported by roadsides has received little attention, although the presence of hedgerows in roadsides is likely to enhance their role as a refuge, notably for woodland species. Using standardised methods, we assessed the impact of planted hedgerows on two taxonomic groups (plants and spiders) inhabiting highway verges within an intensive agricultural landscape. We examined community richness, taxonomic and functional composition in sites with and without planted hedgerows. At the site level, the response of plant and spider communities to the presence of planted hedgerows differed markedly: hedgerows were associated with significantly higher plant richness (higher α-diversity), but similar spider richness. Plant communities in sites without hedgerows appeared as a subset of communities in sites with hedgerows, whereas spider communities in non-planted sites were complementary to that of planted sites (increased β-diversity). The presence of planted hedgerows was also associated with increased taxonomic and functional trait diversity at the landscape level (γ-diversity), through an increased β-diversity in both plants and spiders. Our results thus suggest that a mosaic of planted hedgerows and grassland habitats is crucial for the maintenance of biodiversity at a landscape scale. By providing information for road practitioners and policy makers regarding their potential impact on biodiversity, these results have important direct implications for the management of road networks.     

The potential conservation value of unmowed powerline strips for native bees

The land area covered by powerline easements in the United States exceeds the area of almost all national parks, including Yellowstone. In parts of Europe and the US, electric companies have altered their land management practices from periodic mowing to extraction of tall vegetation combined with the use of selective herbicides. To investigate whether this alternate management practice might produce higher quality habitat for native bees, we compared the bee fauna collected in unmowed powerline corridors and in nearby mowed grassy fields at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center (MD). Powerline sites had more spatially and numerically rare species and a richer bee community than the grassy fields, although the difference was less pronounced than we expected. Powerline sites also had more parasitic species and more cavity-nesting bees. Bee communities changed progressively through the season, but differences between the site types were persistent. The surrounding, non-grassland landscape likely has a strong influence on the bee species collected at the grassland sites, as some bees may be foraging in the grasslands but nesting elsewhere. Improving habitat for native bees will help ameliorate the loss of pollination services caused by the collapse of wild and managed honeybee populations. This study suggests that powerline strips have the potential to provide five million acres of bee-friendly habitat in the US if utilities more generally adopt appropriate management practices.     

Landscape elements as potential barriers and corridors for bees, wasps and parasitoids

Habitat loss and fragmentation in agricultural landscapes lead to severe declines of abundance and richness of many insect species in the remaining isolated semi-natural habitats. We analysed possible barrier effects of large hedges and corridor effects of narrow grass strips that were hypothesized to affect foraging and dispersal of hymenopterans. We selected calcareous grasslands in the vicinity of Göttingen (Germany), which harbour high Hymenoptera diversity and are starting points for foraging and dispersal in the landscape. We installed pan traps to sample bees (i) on the grasslands; (ii) on grassland edges behind adjacent hedges (potential barriers) and without hedges; (iii) on grass strips in 100 m distance to the grassland, which were connected or unconnected to the grassland; and (iv) unconnected (isolated) grass strips in 300 m and 750 m distance to test for corridor and isolation effects on abundance and species richness of foraging wild bees. Additionally we provided trap nests for bees, wasps and their parasitoids on the grasslands and the strips. Species abundance and richness declined with increasing isolation from grasslands for foraging solitary bees, trap-nesting bees, wasps and parasitoids, but not for foraging bumblebees. Hedges did not confine movement of foraging bees. We found no mitigating effects of (100 m) corridor strips on any of the observed groups. We conclude that conservation of semi-natural habitats as sources of bee and wasp diversity is important and that grass strips act as sinks rather than corridors when high quality patches are nearby.     

Supporting wild pollinators in a temperate agricultural landscape: Maintaining mosaics of natural features and production

Pollination has received attention recently due to reported sharp declines of Apis mellifera in several locations, and it has been proposed that diverse native bee communities may be key for continued pollination of economically important crops. However, there is some inconsistency in the literature as to how these communities should best be managed. To address this issue, we collected bees from an intensively managed agricultural region in eastern Australia using blue vane traps. Both linear remnants of vegetation, which form part of a larger corridor network, and adjacent fields of native and exotic pastures, wheat, canola, and lucerne were sampled. A total of 3249 individual bees, representing four families and 36 species were collected. Highly modified environments of nectar-bearing crop supported the most species-rich bee assemblages, and the highest abundance of individual bee species. Distance from the remnants did not limit the body size of species occupying fields (up to 400 m). However, richness of bee assemblages also responded positively to the presence of conservation land in nearby areas, or the number of remnant native trees surrounding traps. Linear remnants of native vegetation contributed to assemblage heterogeneity by adding unique species to the regional pool. Our findings indicate that agricultural industries that currently rely on pollination by A. mellifera should ensure that intensive land use is complemented by untilled areas in the form of conservation land, or farm dams and scattered trees in fields, to support wild pollinators that may act as insurance against further future losses of managed hives.     

Agricultural surroundings support flower-visitor networks in an Afrotropical rain forest

Local habitat structure and resource availability appear to be of great importance for the diversity, abundance, and community structure of bees. We examined the contribution of three different habitat types (farmland, forest edge, forest understory) to bee diversity in a tropical forest-agriculture mosaic in Western Kenya and analysed differences and overlap in plant-bee community interactions between nearby habitats. We used network properties (network size and specialization indices) and bee species turnover to examine temporal and spatial variation of flower-visitation interaction networks in general and in bee species composition in detail across habitats. In total we found 121 bee and 89 plant species involved in the interactions. Results suggest that bees were limited by floral resources because the largest networks, highest diversity, and largest abundances were found at the forest edge and in the farmland which hosted higher amounts of flowers and a more homogeneous distribution of resources in space and time. Forest in the study area is characterized by (1) lower flower density and (2) more humid conditions relative to the farmland. We therefore suggest that the species-rich and structurally diverse farmland acts as a “pollinator rescue” which supports bee communities in the natural forest. We advise conservation managers and politicians to conserve the structural richness of the farmland to (1) preserve bee diversity within the farmland and (2) conserve positive effects of the farmland on bee activity in the forest remnant.     

Influence of management regimes of adjacent land uses on the woody plant richness of hedgerows in Spanish cultural landscapes

Hedgerows are an important component of the cultural landscape and may have an invaluable role in maintaining biological diversity. Adjacent land use potentially has an important influence on the species composition of hedgerows. In the Mediterranean region, hedgerows are considered as remnants of past practices and their function may be linked with the prevailing agrarian systems, in turn related to societal change. In this paper, the characteristics of hedgerows in Central Spain, and their interactions with adjacent fields were studied in order to understand their contribution to maintaining woody plant species richness in the cultural landscape. The hedgerow typology of the region were found to respond jointly both to environmental and livestock farming-related variations in adjacent land uses. The variation in the management intensity of the landscape is reflected in the composition of the woody plant species of hedgerows, varying from species of open landscape to woodland species. Moderate degrees of grazing allow for higher values of woody plant richness in hedgerows compared with those hedgerows separating systems subjected to a higher livestock loads or to abandonment processes. Thus, hedgerows potentially contribute to the functionality of these cultural landscapes and provide a basis of important ecological and historical value in landscape conservation planning. These conclusions have important implications in the development of landscape conservation and protection policies.     

Factors and scales potentially important for saproxylic beetles in temperate mixed oak forest

The influence of environmental factors on species richness and species composition may be manifested at different spatial levels. Exploring these relationships is important to understand at which spatial scales certain species and organism groups become sensitive to fragmentation and changes in habitat quality. At different spatial scales we evaluated the potential influence of 45 factors (multiple regression, PCA) on saproxylic oak beetles in 21 smaller broadleaved Swedish forests of conservation importance (woodland key habitats, WKH). Local amount of dead wood in forests is often assumed to be important, but two landscape variables, area of oak dominated woodland key habitats within 1 km of sites and regional amount of dead oak wood, were the main (and strong) predictors of variation in local species richness of oak beetles. The result was similar for red-listed beetles associated with oak. Species composition of the beetles was also best predicted by area of oak woodland key habitat within 1 km, with canopy closure as the second predictor. Despite suitable local quality of the woodland key habitats, the density of such habitat patches may in many areas be too low for long-term protection of saproxylic beetles associated with broadleaved temperate forests. Landscapes with many clustered woodland key habitats rich in oak should have high priority for conservation of saproxylic oak beetles.     

Wild bee species increase tomato production and respond differently to surrounding land use in Northern California

Pollination provided by bees enhances the production of many crops. However, the contribution of wild bees remains unmeasured for many crops, and the effects of anthropogenic change on many bee species are unstudied. We experimentally investigated how pollination by wild bees affects tomato production in northern California. We found that wild bees substantially increase the production of field-grown tomato, a crop generally considered self-pollinating. Surveys of the bee community on 14 organic fields that varied in proximity to natural habitat showed that the primary bee visitors, Anthophora urbana Cresson and Bombus vosnesenskii Radoszkowski, were affected differently by land management practices. B. vosnesenskii was found primarily on farms proximate to natural habitats, but neither proximity to natural habitat nor tomato floral abundance, temperature, or year explained variation in the visitation rates of A. urbana. Natural habitat appears to increase B. vosnesenskii populations and should be preserved near farms. Additional research is needed to determine how to maintain A. urbana. Species-specific differences in dependency on natural habitats underscore the importance of considering the natural histories of individual bee species when projecting population trends of pollinators and designing management plans for pollination services. Thus, to maintain an entire bee community, multiple approaches, including maintaining natural habitat, should be implemented.     

东北平原典型玉米种植区农业景观植物多样性研究——以昌图县为例

非耕作生境是农业景观中的重要组成部分,为生物提供食物和栖息地,对生物多样性保护具有重要意义。本文以辽宁省昌图县为例,选取了20个非耕作生境比例为0~50%的网格(1 km?1 km)为样区,采用典型样地法对调查区域内农业景观中的林地、田间路、草地、沟渠、果园5类主要非耕作生境中的植物群落进行调查,探讨不同非耕作生境类型和比例中植物多样性及其与景观异质性之间的关系。研究结果表明,随着非耕作生境比例增加,植物物种多样性和均匀度先增加后减小,在20%~30%时达到峰值;非耕作生境比例在0~40%范围内时,植物物种丰富度同样呈现先增加后减小,且在20%~30%时达到峰值;非耕作生境比例高于40%时,植物物种丰富度再次出现峰值且高于20%~30%。随着非耕作生境比例的增加,农业景观香浓多样性、香浓均匀度指数和景观斑块形状复杂程度逐渐增加,蔓延度恰好相反。不同生境中重要值最高的均为禾本科植物,但植物种不同;优势种优势度为果园沟渠草地田间路林地。果园、草地和沟渠的物种多样性和均匀度指数显著高于林地和田间路,丰富度指数为草地林地沟渠果园田间路,且草地、果园和田间路的不同调查区域间植物群落指数存在较大的变异性。草地、果园、沟渠、田间路和林地中景观异质性与物种多样性相关性顺次降低。研究结论表明,东北平原典型玉米种植区农业景观中,最适宜非耕作生境比例为20%~30%;非耕作生境中林地、沟渠对物种多样性维持、湿生植物多样性保护具有积极作用;不同生境干扰类型和方式不同,景观异质性与植物物种多样性相关性程度也不同。在今后农业景观生物多样性保护中应综合考虑非耕作生境的类型和比例,干扰的类型和方式等多种因素对生物多样性、生态服务及农业产量的影响。     

Habitat and flower resource partitioning by an exotic and three native bumble bees in central Hokkaido, Japan

Studies of the interspecific relationships between alien and native pollinator species can help forecast the success of alien species as well as assess the extent of disturbance to native plant-pollinator interactions. We examined the habitat and flower resource occupancy by the invasive introduced bumble bee Bombus terrestris and three dominant native bumble bees in central Hokkaido, northern Japan, in relation to a landscape factor (forest cover ratio) and flower morphology with respect to the proboscis length of bees. Three years of monitoring the invasive boundary of B. terrestris indicated that this species, which dominates open agricultural areas, probably will not invade the forests in which the native species dominate. This habitat partitioning likely followed the displacement of the natives by the invader in open agricultural lands. In forested areas, the native species partitioned flower resources on the basis of the relationship between proboscis length and the lengths of the corolla tubes of flowers. However, in open agricultural areas, both the long- and short-tubed flowers were primarily visited by the exotic short-tongued B. terrestris, which foraged illegitimately (by nectar robbing) on long-tubed flowers (Trifolium pratense L.) and legitimately on short-tubed flowers (T. repens L. and Lavandula angustifolia Mill.). The invasion of B. terrestris into open natural vegetation, in addition to open agricultural areas, has recently been reported in Hokkaido. Even though the exotic and dominant native bumble bees partition their habitat according to landscape factors, the invasive bee has the potential to alter the overall interactions within plant-pollinator systems in the regions of open vegetation on Hokkaido Island.     

Decline of bumble bees (Bombus) in the North American Midwest

Declines in many bumble bee species have been documented in Europe raising several ecological and economic concerns. The nature and extent of bumble bee decline in North America is poorly understood due mainly to a lack of baseline and long-term data. Museum collections provide excellent sources of information on past and current species distributions, which can be used to infer changes in the composition of insect communities. Using the Illinois Natural History Survey’s electronic database of Hymenoptera and a recent biodiversity survey of historically sampled localities, we were able to examine changes in the richness and distribution of the bumble bee fauna of Illinois over the last century. We found that bumble bee species richness declined substantially during the middle of the century (1940-1960). Four species were locally extirpated: Bombus borealis, Bombus ternarius, Bombus terricola and Bombus variabilis. The ranges of Bombus affinis, Bombus fraternus, Bombus pensylvanicus and Bombus vagans have also decreased in Illinois. Our analyses also indicated that current bumble bee diversity is highest in northern Illinois, where conservation efforts would be most productive. Our study demonstrates that half of the bumble bee species found historically in Illinois have been locally extirpated or have suffered declines, supporting observations of broader declines in North America. Major declines in the bumble bee fauna coincided with large-scale agricultural intensification in Illinois between 1940 and 1960. Attempts to conserve bumble bees in Illinois should involve wildlife-friendly approaches to agriculture, such as increasing agricultural land set-asides and hedgerows, and employing integrated pest management.     

北京昌平农业景观传粉服务供给和需求评估研究

近年来全球范围内蜜蜂多样性的下降引起了各国科学家与政府对与农业可持续生产密切相关的传粉服务的关注。为了认识和了解区域传粉服务的供给和需求状况,为制定区域传粉管理策略奠定基础,本研究在2016年对北京昌平7种常见生境的野生蜂多样性、植被组成、土壤紧实度、作物种植面积等数据进行了调查,根据野生蜂的物种组成、飞行距离、筑巢偏好和活动季节,生境的植物资源数据和筑巢适宜性数据,结合In VEST模型对研究区传粉服务的供给进行了评估;根据研究区传粉依赖作物种植面积和各种作物对传粉服务的依赖程度,对研究区传粉服务的需求进行了评估;通过叠加传粉服务供给和需求分级图,评估了研究区的传粉服务供需匹配状况。结果显示,自然林是最适宜野生蜂的生境,其次是人工林、荒草地和边界生境;果园既是野生蜂的生境,也对传粉服务有较高的需求;大棚几乎不供给传粉服务,但对传粉服务有较高需求。对传粉供需等级匹配的结果显示,昌平区供给等级高于需求等级的区域占34.2%,大部分分布于山区,有较高的传粉服务供给和较低的传粉服务需求,具有较高保护价值;供给等级低于需求等级的区域占13.9%,多分布于靠近山区的平原地区,虽然具有较高的传粉服务供给,但也具有最高的需求等级;供给等级与需求等级持平的区域占51.9%,远离山区的平原地区由于具有较多半自然生境,传粉服务的供需基本是匹配的。最后,文章对研究区传粉服务提升提出了管理建议:对于高供给-中/低需求的区域(重点保护区),建议发展低管理强度的有机农业,保护区域内的生境;对于中/低供给-高需求的区域(重点提升区、一般提升区),建议使用养殖蜜蜂提升传粉服务,同时在景观尺度上增加自然/半自然生境比例,建立生态廊道以增加生境之间的连通度;对于供需等级较为一致的区域(重点维持区、一般维持区),建议降低农业区域的管理强度,同时增加生境间的连接度,以实现传粉服务的可持续供给。     

Habitat selection by the Mediterranean horseshoe bat, Rhinolophus euryale (Chiroptera: Rhinolophidae) in a rural area of southern Italy and implications for conservation

We studied habitat selection by Rhinolophus euryale in a rural area of southern Italy in 1998-2000 by radio-tracking. Two comparisons were carried out, one between habitat occurrence within individual home ranges and within the study area, the other between time spent in each foraging habitat and habitat occurrence within the home range. The first analysis showed that olive groves and conifer plantations were, respectively, the most and the least important habitats. The second analysis highlighted the importance of woodland for R. euryale, while urban sites, open areas and conifer plantations were avoided. We recommend that clearing of continuous, large areas of woodland for tree harvesting should be avoided. Conifers should not be used for reforestation. Urbanisation should be limited in the areas of greatest importance for the species, and linear landscape elements such as tree lines and hedgerows should be maintained.     

滇东南南瓜传粉昆虫密度对生境丧失的差异性响应

响应多样性理论认为不同传粉蜂对环境胁迫的响应尺度和过程在时空上存在差异,然而目前尚不清楚我国重要农林生态系统传粉蜂对环境胁迫的响应规律。试验以云南省文山州广南县南瓜农田生态系统为研究对象,根据农田景观中自然半自然生境数量和面积的变化梯度和离自然半自然生境的距离梯度选择南瓜样地,抽样调查南瓜样地内熊蜂密度和蜜蜂密度。解译卫星影像获取土地类型数据,分析熊蜂密度和蜜蜂密度同自然半自然生境面积百分率和耕地面积百分率的相关系数,在最大相关系数对应的空间尺度下探索蜜蜂密度和熊蜂密度对生境丧失的响应规律。研究发现,熊蜂密度随自然半自然生境面积百分率的增加而显著增加,但蜜蜂密度并不受自然半自然生境面积的影响。同时,熊蜂密度随耕地面积百分率的增加而显著下降,但蜜蜂密度不受耕地面积的影响。此外,熊蜂密度随离自然半自然生境的距离增加而显著下降,但蜜蜂密度不受距离作用的影响。由此可见,云南省文山州南瓜传粉熊蜂和蜜蜂多度对生境丧失表现出多样的响应规律。熊蜂和蜜蜂对生境丧失的差异性响应可能是保障该区域南瓜受粉的重要机制。     

Spatial and temporal variations in the use of rice-paddy dominated landscapes by birds in Japan

Agricultural landscapes with spatial and temporal variations interact with each other to affect the existing biodiversity. Though rice fields provide important habitats for birds all over the world, studies so far have rarely explored the effects of landscape heterogeneity on bird species in rice paddy areas. This study investigated the effects of habitat cover and landscape variables on the species richness and the abundance of birds in rice paddy areas in Japan. Data on bird occurrence and the environment were collected at 32 grid squares (1 × 1 km) in the Tone River basin. The richness and the abundance of agricultural wetland species were particularly high in landscapes with large areas of rice fields in summer, when rice fields were irrigated, but in those with large areas of open water in winter, when rice fields were drained. It is important to maintain a combination of rice fields and open water to satisfy multiple habitat requirements by agricultural wetland species throughout the year. Grassland species were positively associated with a rich diversity of land cover including fallow fields and open water, indicating the importance of a simultaneous existence of multiple landscape elements. Forest cover in landscapes positively affected edge species and woodland species. Since forest cover had a relatively strong correlation with edge density, the responses of bird species to changes in forest cover and edge density need to be explored further. This study illustrates the importance of spatial and temporal landscape complementation for bird species in rice paddy areas.     

Adaptive range selection by golden eagles in a changing landscape: A multiple modelling approach

Land abandonment is causing considerable woodland expansion in many mountainous areas of Europe, with potential repercussions on conservation-sensitive species typical of open habitats. We examined the potential impact of such changes on an alpine golden eagle population, by estimating the ranges potentially used by the eagles for foraging through different techniques (concentric circles of different radii and a tessellation-method based on telemetry data). Compared to randomly located territories, eagles selected ranges farther away from conspecifics, characterised by a rugged topography and rich in main prey species and in open habitats favoured by their main prey species, such as grassland, shrubs, xerophytic vegetation and rocky outcrops. Similarly, nest spacing and breeding success were related to the availability of optimal foraging habitats, also favoured by the main prey species of the eagles. Even though woodland-variables did not enter any of the stepwise models, eagles were dependent on grassland habitats, currently lost to woodland at a rate of about 0.5-1% per year, and on shrub vegetation rapidly evolving into woodland, which accounted on average for almost 10% of the eagle ranges. Long-term loss of such habitat may imply up to a 66% woodland increase for some eagle ranges. Given the complexity of the uncovered relationships and difficulty to make firm predictions, subsidies to halt the abandonment of traditional agro-pastoral practices seem urgently needed.