Surviving urbanisation and agricultural intensification: A review of the threats for farmland and urban birds in human-modified landscapes in the Netherlands

Haaksma, Lisa Rose (2022) Surviving urbanisation and agricultural intensification: A review of the threats for farmland and urban birds in human-modified landscapes in the Netherlands. Master's Thesis / Essay, Ecology and Evolution.

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Abstract

Birds hold a key place in the functioning of ecosystems worldwide. Unfortunately, increasing urbanization, agricultural intensification and industrialization by the ever-expanding human population is now taking a heavy toll on bird populations. Dwindling bird numbers and varieties can negatively impact human health, economy and food production, so conserving the avian community is of key importance. In this literature thesis, we provided an in-depth overview of the current knowledge regarding the ways in which urbanisation and agricultural intensification can impact the breeding success and adult survival of avian wildlife inhabiting human-modified habitats, focussing on the case example of the Netherlands; the most densely populated country in the European Union and the second-largest agricultural exporter in the world. We found that human impacts, such as land-use change (drainage, ploughing, intensive mechanical grass cutting, reseeding with grass monocultures), the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers, the introduction of invasive plant and predator species, plastic pollution, and the increase in man-made structures can have clear negative effects on a birds’ reproductive success and survival through many different direct and indirect processes that are intertwined. Taken together, these effects are a prime suspect as to why more and more Dutch breeding birds are classified on the IUCN red list of threatened species. After a series of unsuccessful conservation measu

Item Type:	Thesis (Master's Thesis / Essay)
Supervisor name:	Piersma, T. and Fokkema, R.W.
Degree programme:	Ecology and Evolution
Thesis type:	Master's Thesis / Essay
Language:	English
Date Deposited:	22 Feb 2022 10:15
Last Modified:	22 Feb 2022 10:15
URI:	https://fse.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/26620

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