Farming and Birds
Given the underlying topography, the scenery over most of Britain has been created largely by human activities. Over the centuries, landscapes have been continually modified as human needs and desires have changed.Each major change in land use has brought changes to the native plants and animals, continually altering the distribution and abundance of species. This is apparent from the changes in vegetation and animal populations that were documented in historical times, but even more so in those that have occurred since the Second World War.More than seventy per cent of Britain’s land surface is currently used for crop or livestock production, and in recent decades farming has experienced a major revolution. Not only has it become more thoroughly mechanised, it has also become heavily dependent on synthetic fertilisers and pesticides, and increasingly large-scale in its operation. These changes have brought crop yields and livestock production to levels previously considered unattainable. However, such high yields have been achieved only at huge financial and environmental costs. One of the most conspicuous, and best documented, consequences of modern agriculture has been a massive loss of wildlife, including birds.In this timely addition to the New Naturalist Library, Ian Newton discusses the changes that have occurred in British agriculture over the past seventy years, and the effects they have had on bird populations. He explains how different farming procedures have affected birds and other wildlife, and how an understanding of the processes involved could help in future conservation.
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William Collins
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF WilliamCollinsBooks.com This eBook edition published by William Collins in 2017 Copyright © Ian Newton, 2017 Ian Newton asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work. Cover design linocut by Robert Gillmor. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this eBook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins Publishers. Source ISBN: 9780008147891 Ebook Edition © July 2017 ISBN: 9780008175337 Version: 2017-06-28
EDITORS
SARAH A. CORBET, SCD DAVID STREETER, MBE, FIBIOL JIM FLEGG, OBE, FIHORT PROF. JONATHAN SILVERTOWN PROF. BRIAN SHORT
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The aim of this series is to interest the general
reader in the wildlife of Britain by recapturing the enquiring spirit of the old naturalists. The editors believe that the natural pride of the British public in the native flora and fauna, to which must be added concern for their conservation, is best fostered by maintaining a high standard of accuracy combined with clarity of exposition in presenting the results of modern scientific research.
Contents
Copyright
Editorsâ Preface
Authorâs Foreword and Acknowledgements
1 Introduction
2 Population Trends in Farmland Birds
3 Farming Through Time
4 Post-War Farming: the New Revolution
5 Soils, Invertebrates and Birds
6 Crops, Livestock and Birds
7 Weeds, Pests, Diseases and Birds
8 Pesticides and Birds
9 Arable Land: Management and Birds
10 Arable Land: Crop Growth, Harvest and Birds
11 Traditional Lowland Grasslands
12 Modern Grassland Management and Birds
13 Wet Grassland, Waders and Waterfowl
14 Insect Declines
15 Marshes and Land Drainage
16 Open Waters
17 Woods, Heaths and Farmsteads
18 Hedges and Other Field Boundaries
19 Hill Farming
20 Agri-Environment Schemes
21 Agri-Environment Successes
22 Conclusions
Footnotes
References
About the Author
About the Publisher
FIVE PREVIOUS VOLUMES in the New Naturalist Library (NNs 17, 31, 50, 51, 67) have dealt broadly with humans and their impact on the landscape, particularly through farming activities. The last of these (NN 67 Farming and Wildlife by Kenneth Mellanby) was published in 1981, which on current farming timescales is a very long time ago. Hence Farming and Birds by Ian Newton is a timely analysis and a most welcome addition to the Library.
Readers of his three previous New Naturalists on Finches, Bird Migration and Bird Populations will be familiar with Ian Newtonâs characteristic comprehensive and insightful analyses, fact-packed and readily assimilable. This approach he here applies to the development of farming and farmland over the millennia since our ancestors first laid their hands on the land at the start of the Neolithic Period, with an inevitable closer focus on the last century. Farming and Birds deals with a breadth of topics, which today probably comprise the biggest ecological problem ever to have threatened the British and Irish environment.
Ian Newton has an outstanding research career in ornithological ecology, with over 300 scientific papers and several landmark books to his credit. One component of this research involved assessing the adverse impact of agricultural pesticides on raptor populations that absorbed the various toxins involved through their prey and the associated food chains â highly relevant to this text. Overall, Dr Newtonâs national and international standing in avian ecology is impeccable. He has served not only as President of the British Ecological Society and the British Ornithologistsâ Union but also as Chairman of the RSPB and the British Trust for Ornithology, he has been elected to Fellowships of the Royal Societies of London and Edinburgh, and he has been appointed OBE.
The Editorsâ Preface to Ian Newtonâs Finches (NN 55) considered it a âmodel of scientific writing for the general reader, balanced, lucid and absorbingâ. Nothing has changed. This volume will be valued and fascinating reading for those interested in their countryside, with many âso thatâs why â¦â explanations resolving problems that have puzzled readers. It should also be required reading for all those professionally involved in farming, from agricultural students and companies to relevant civil servants and, indeed, agriculture ministers.
