Habitat characteristics and the rate of decline in a threatened farmland bird, the ortolan bunting Emberiza hortulana

Farmland habitats witness steep declines in biodiversity. One rapidly declining farmland species is the ortolan bunting Emberiza hortulana. In Finland, a staggering 99% of the population has been lost during the past 30 years. Changes in the breeding habitats have been proposed as a reason for the decline, although hazards during migration and wintering may also play a role.

We gathered a 19-year data set of Finnish ortolan buntings and studied which spatial characteristics, habitat features, and climate factors might explain the population growth rate at the singing-group level. As explanatory variables we used region, density of small-scale structures, proportion of agricultural area in the landscape, diversity of crop types, proportion of bare ground, and temperature and precipitation of previous breeding season.

Higher population growth rates were associated with higher crop type diversity and higher proportion of bare ground. The mosaic of various crop plants and bare ground may provide a wider array of feeding, hiding and nesting places, and an easier access to food. Higher growth rates were also associated with landscapes dominated by interconnected agricultural land, which may reflect the species' sociability and avoidance of forested areas. The North Ostrobothnia region had higher growth rates compared to other regions.

We suggest that northern populations of ortolan bunting should be targeted for further studies on feeding and breeding ecology as well as for urgent conservation actions, such as increasing crop type diversity and bare ground.