The evaluation of key sites for breeding waders in lowland Scotland |
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Authors: | Mark O&rsquo Brien,Ian Bainbridge |
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Affiliation: | a RSPB Scotland, Dunedin House, 25 Ravelston Terrace, Edinburgh EH4 3TP, UKb Scottish Executive Ecological Advisors’ Unit, 1-J77 Victoria Quay, Edinburgh EH6 6QQ, UK |
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Abstract: | This study considers the selection of sites based on the densities of breeding waders that would be considered to be distributed widely across common habitats in Scotland: so-called ‘wider countryside’ species. Five methods to provide a hierarchical classification of sites are assessed. Fifty percent of the populations of redshank (Tringa totanus) and snipe (Gallinago gallinago) occur on just 2 and 4.5% of Scottish lowlands, respectively, yet neither are suitably protected by conservation measures and both would benefit from a carefully targeted approach to their conservation. Three species, lapwing (Vanellus vanellus), curlew (Numenius arquata) and oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus) are more appropriately considered to be dispersed species. We propose that, if the density of a breeding wader on a site exceeds the threshold level predicted for the top 1% of Scottish lowland for that species, and if the area of the site exceeds 1 km2 then that site be considered to be a key site for farmland waders. The minimum density (in pairs km−2) must exceed 16.8 for lapwing, 10.1 for oystercatcher, 6.1 for snipe, 7.5 for curlew or 3.6 for redshank. |
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Keywords: | Farmland waders Site selection Oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus Lapwing Vanellus vanellus Snipe Gallinago gallinago Curlew Numenius arquata Redshank Tringa totanus Agri-environment schemes Scotland |
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