CAnMove

Two of my main interests are farming and bird migration, and luckily, my research involves them both! I started my PhD at the Department of Animal Ecology in 2005 with the aim to investigate the importance of farmland as stopover habitat for birds during migration. To do this, I use two different approaches. In a quantitative approach, I investigate number and proportions of birds and species that use farmland during stopover. I am also interested in how different farming practices (organic vs. conventional farming) or landscape types (small-scale mixed farming landscape vs. intensively framed open plains) affect numbers and species richness of farmland staging avian migrants.

A second approach is used to find out more about the quality of farmland as stopover habitat for a single species, the Golden Plover (Pluvialis apricaria). This tundra-breeding wader visits the most intensively farmed areas in southernmost Sweden regularly every autumn, making it an excellent example for studies on effects of agricultural intensification on birds during stopover.

With my studies, mainly based on observations of birds and flocks, ringing data and radio-telemetry, I hope to shed some light on the qualitative and quantitative importance of farmland for birds during the migratory period, especially in the view of agricultural intensification.
Collaborators: Åke Lindström & Martin Green