European bird declines: do we need to rethink approaches to the management of abundant generalist predators?

Bird species are declining across Europe. Current European policy, i.e. the Birds and Habitats Directives, focus on habitat management as a way of halting the declines. This paper explores the role of predation in causing bird population declines and asks if we need to reconsider our approach to the management of generalist predators. 
We analysed bird population trends and distribution changes across Europe, Britain and Ireland, reflecting an increasing gradient of generalist predator abundance (principally red fox Vulpes vulpes and species of the family Corvidae). We tested if ground-nesting bird species, considered more vulnerable to predation,were in greater decline compared to other nesting strategies. We also compared Annex I designated species to non-designated species as a proxy for habitat management.
We found that across Europe, 74% of ground-nesting bird species were in decline, compared to 41% of other species. This was especially evident in Britain, where the pattern...

欧洲全境鸟类种群均呈下降趋势。当前欧盟的核心鸟类保护政策为《鸟类与栖息地指令》（Birds and Habitats Directives），该政策将栖息地管理作为遏制鸟类种群衰退的核心手段。本研究探讨了捕食作用在鸟类种群下降中的驱动机制，并提出疑问：我们是否需要重新审视针对广食性捕食者的管理策略？

我们针对欧洲、英国及爱尔兰全境的鸟类种群趋势与分布变化开展了分析，该研究区域的广食性捕食者种群丰度呈递增梯度，主要类群包括赤狐（Vulpes vulpes）与鸦科（Corvidae）物种。我们对比了地面筑巢鸟类与其他筑巢类型鸟类的种群衰退情况——地面筑巢鸟类被认为对捕食活动更为脆弱，其种群衰退程度是否更为显著。此外，我们以是否为附件I保护物种（Annex I designated species）作为栖息地管理效果的替代评估指标，对比了此类物种与非保护物种的种群变化。

研究结果显示，欧洲全境有74%的地面筑巢鸟类种群处于衰退状态，而其他筑巢类型鸟类的衰退比例仅为41%。这一趋势在英国尤为显著，其种群变化模式……