Data from: Villages and their old farmsteads are hot spots of bird diversity in agricultural landscapes

To counteract the decline of farmland biodiversity in Europe, it is crucial to recognize habitats that are hot spots. Old rural settlements (e.g. villages) may be such important habitats, although these presumably biodiversity-rich habitats have received little attention. Socio-economic changes in central-eastern Europe since 1989 mean that old homesteads and farmsteads are being replaced by new ones.
We investigated bird species composition, richness and abundance at three spatial scales (single rural property, village and landscape) in the farmland of Poland to test: (i) their association with age (built before vs. after 1989) and type of property (farmstead vs. homestead), (ii) their relationship with the increasing share of new homesteads at the village scale and (iii) the difference in diversity between the village environment and four other environments (open fields, forest–field ecotones, forests and towns) at the landscape scale.
At the single property scale, 15 out of 33 species preferred old farmsteads, while only one species preferred new homesteads. Old properties hosted a higher number of species and individuals than new ones, and farmsteads hosted a higher number of species than homesteads.
At the village scale, bird species richness and abundance were markedly negatively associated with the proportion of new homesteads. At the landscape scale, species composition differed between villages and the other environments, and villages had the highest average bird abundance.
Synthesis and applications. Rural villages and old farmsteads are important habitats for many farmland birds; thus, the increasing number of new homesteads not associated with farmland production will likely lead to a substantial further decline of farmland bird numbers and biodiversity. To counteract this process, we recommend (i) implementing educational programmes to develop rural residents’ awareness about the importance of farmsteads and homesteads for biodiversity, (ii) including villages and farmsteads and consideration of bird-friendly habitats within these as part of EU conservation policies and (iii) compensating for changes in the structure of rural villages by increasing the amount of similar alternative habitats in the surrounding landscape.

为遏制欧洲农田生物多样性（farmland biodiversity）的衰退，识别作为生物多样性热点栖息地（habitat hot spots）的生境至关重要。古老乡村定居点（如村庄）或为这类重要生境，尽管这些本应具有高生物多样性的栖息地却鲜受关注。1989年以来中东欧的社会经济变革，致使老旧宅基与农场宅地不断被新式建筑取代。
本研究在波兰农田的三个空间尺度（spatial scales）：单处乡村地产、村庄及景观尺度下，调查了鸟类物种组成、物种丰富度与种群丰度，以验证三项假设：（i）鸟类群落特征与地产建成年代（1989年之前vs之后）及地产类型（农场宅地（farmstead）与旧宅基（homestead））的关联；（ii）村庄尺度下，鸟类群落特征与新式宅基占比提升的相关性；（iii）景观尺度下，村庄生境与其余四类生境（开阔农田、林-田交错带、森林与城镇）的多样性差异。
在单处地产尺度上，33个调查鸟类物种中有15个偏好老旧农场宅地，仅1个物种偏好新式宅基。老旧地产的物种丰富度与个体数量均高于新式地产，且农场宅地的物种丰富度高于旧宅基。
在村庄尺度上，鸟类物种丰富度与种群丰度均与新式宅基占比呈显著负相关。在景观尺度上，村庄与其余生境的鸟类物种组成存在显著差异，且村庄的鸟类平均种群丰度最高。
研究总结与实践应用
乡村村庄与老旧农场宅地是众多农田鸟类的重要栖息生境；因此，与农田生产无关的新式宅基数量持续增加，或会进一步导致农田鸟类种群数量与生物多样性大幅下降。为缓解这一进程，我们提出三项建议：（i）开展科普教育项目，提升乡村居民对农场宅地与旧宅基生物多样性保护价值的认知；（ii）将村庄、农场宅地及其内部的鸟类友好型生境纳入欧盟（EU）保护政策范畴；（iii）通过增加周边景观中同类替代生境的面积，补偿乡村聚落结构变化带来的生态影响。