Effects of grazer density, season and land cover on bird guilds in a restored conservation area

Effects of grazer density, season and land cover on bird guilds in a restored conservation area | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Effects of grazer density, season and land cover on bird guilds in a restored conservation area Lilla Lovász, Fränzi Korner-Nievergelt, Valentin Amrhein This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-2962219/v2 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 2 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Show more versions Abstract Context Grazing by large herbivores is an increasingly used management tool in European nature reserves. A challenge in grassland conservation is to maintain both the openness and the heterogeneity of the habitat, to support their animal communities, including birds. Horses and cattle are often used to create and maintain patchy landscapes, especially in rewilding projects, but the influence of grazers on birds is often debated by conservationists. Objectives We studied how the abundance and species richness of birds of four foraging guilds are related to the area use of Highland cattle and Konik horses in an alluvial grassland. We also investigated how season and land cover influences the spatial distribution of individuals and species of different bird guilds on the grazed area. Methods We equipped all grazers with GPS-collars to assess the density of their hourly positions. We made weekly transect counts of birds to describe their distribution and carried out land cover surveys to describe the habitat. We used GAMM models in a spatially explicit framework. Results Open-area foraging birds were clearly associated with higher grazer densities, and aerial, wetland and woodland birds also seemed to profit from low-intensity year-round grazing. Most bird species and individuals were observed on open landscapes scattered with woody patches and waterbodies, and on areas with moderate grazer density. The number of birds on the grazed area was about twice the number on the ungrazed control area. Conclusions A heterogenous landscape maintained by low-intensity grazing seems to fulfil the needs of birds with different feeding ecologies. rewilding natural grazing heterogeneity area use bovid equid bird guild Konik Highland Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare potential competing interests as follows: Fränzi Korner-Nievergelt is employed by oikostat GmbH Supplementary Files Supplementarymaterial.docx Supplementary material Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 2 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Show more versions Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-2962219","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":203499900,"identity":"4a32eb09-7602-45ca-8f77-4b49deaa449b","order_by":0,"name":"Lilla Lovász","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA5klEQVRIie3PIQvCQBTA8XcczHJ49cLwMzxZ0IHiV1EMllnFOBGWNqz6TYwbF1ZEq8EwEbQsCBYFgzstIrgzGu4fjnvhx7sDMJn+sCqlkxig+ZrOAAzVhfjfiUWJXxDxHMj8JwJvhLLi0JNKQa4gapimh0s72NmNSprBbVn+sCQE4eDKQ2cYHJkbekiileYvDERv4XvQHwaSYewBJYFmy12R2SmTriKbU6YlUm2ZiW59ShTZdlFPbBQOF7lDwrVk7jzHJCohnMtkn49bNYsPDufrSHYafLDPbiXkFX7MsQ6YTCaTqbwHX8lMpgqETiEAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"University of Basel","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Lilla","middleName":"","lastName":"Lovász","suffix":""},{"id":203499901,"identity":"6577bf9b-1b77-46a7-862e-b38454d86434","order_by":1,"name":"Fränzi Korner-Nievergelt","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"oikostat GmbH","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Fränzi","middleName":"","lastName":"Korner-Nievergelt","suffix":""},{"id":203499902,"identity":"8bef1407-458b-4338-a90a-da575065eebe","order_by":2,"name":"Valentin Amrhein","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Basel","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Valentin","middleName":"","lastName":"Amrhein","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2023-05-21 09:44:08","currentVersionCode":2,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":false,"vertebrateSubjects":false,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":true,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false,"humanSubjectConsent":false,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-2962219/v2","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2962219/v2","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":49141559,"identity":"ad08bd54-fc72-4674-acd2-a8a8036f8682","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-01-03 18:28:24","extension":"jpg","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":191039,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of individuals (abundance) of the four different foraging guilds of birds, in relation to grazer density and date.\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHeatmap colors with contour lines indicate average number of individuals. Vertical dotted lines indicate segment lines of grazer densities of 5 and 125 GPS positions per grid cell per 3-weeks period, and horizontal dotted lines show 1 May and 1 September. These segments are plotted in Fig. 2, where we also provide 95% compatibility intervals. Note that patterns are unreliable at extreme values (in the corners of each plot).\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Figure1.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-2962219/v2/960a8de51867d9d255126950.jpg"},{"id":49142225,"identity":"3e391d26-3557-4c62-8569-b6af95b01da5","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-01-03 18:36:24","extension":"jpg","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":197144,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of individuals (abundance) of the four foraging guilds of birds in relation to grazer density and date.\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFig 2a\u003c/strong\u003e shows the segment of bird abundance for each guild for two haphazardly selected days: 1 May (breeding period) and 1 September (migration period), with 95% compatibility intervals (dotted lines). \u003cstrong\u003eFig 2b\u003c/strong\u003e shows the segment of bird abundance for each guild for two selected grazer densities: 5 GPS positions per grid cell per 3 weeks, meaning low density, and 125 positions per grid cell per 3 weeks, meaning high grazer density (average grazer density throughout the study period was 24.1 GPS positions per grid cell per 3 weeks). Dotted lines are 95% compatibility intervals. Note that patterns are unreliable at extreme values (at the beginning and end of the x-axis).\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Figure2.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-2962219/v2/075eea4c6fa6620793fd64ba.jpg"},{"id":49141556,"identity":"8dc1c9ab-e015-440b-81dc-b4e993465eb4","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-01-03 18:28:24","extension":"jpg","order_by":3,"title":"Figure 3","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":427383,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbundance of birds of the four guilds in relation to land cover types\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNumber of individuals (grey dots) and average number of individuals (regression lines, with 95% compatibility intervals represented as dotted lines): \u003cstrong\u003ea)\u003c/strong\u003e aerial foraging birds; \u003cstrong\u003eb)\u003c/strong\u003e open-area foraging birds; \u003cstrong\u003ec)\u003c/strong\u003e wetland-foraging birds; \u003cstrong\u003ed)\u003c/strong\u003e woodland-foraging birds\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Figure3abcd.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-2962219/v2/134107b173c04aca47f06a0e.jpg"},{"id":49142643,"identity":"8df22e18-df7b-466c-9466-112a4da45d96","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-01-03 18:44:24","extension":"jpg","order_by":4,"title":"Figure 4","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":47834,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eChanges of number of bird species as a function of date.\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDotted lines are 95% compatibility intervals; grey dots indicate the number of species detected in a grid cell on a given day.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Figure4.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-2962219/v2/920bb3d2cb2f28d41ea9ba87.jpg"},{"id":49142223,"identity":"414511b8-33d9-4e84-8569-6e7f5303951e","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-01-03 18:36:24","extension":"jpg","order_by":5,"title":"Figure 5","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":119570,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of species in relation to grazer density and date\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eColors and contour lines indicate the average number of species per grid cell. (For the assessment of the compatibility intervals see the Sup. Mat. Fig 5b.)\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Figure5a.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-2962219/v2/3a7714359759b56bae09f1ee.jpg"},{"id":49141561,"identity":"07252abe-841e-43f9-a17b-a7c39dcccce6","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-01-03 18:28:24","extension":"jpg","order_by":6,"title":"Figure 6","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":146789,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRelationships between overall bird species richness and land cover types.\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNote that the scale of the x axis on plots a)–e) changes according to the maximum percentage of the respective land cover type over all grid cells. Plot f) depicts the binarized effect of water presence in the surveyed grid cells\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Figure6.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-2962219/v2/ba58a9df225899a797a3f328.jpg"},{"id":49144160,"identity":"9a859b06-3013-436a-8c62-c1a13c4c92a1","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-01-03 19:00:32","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1154072,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"LovaszetalEffectsofgrazerdensitybirdguilds.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-2962219/v2_covered_d48e19dd-5a43-4b1f-bd66-a5db43e601ca.pdf"},{"id":49141555,"identity":"fdc80c4a-e35f-4747-9f78-0d12bff91156","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-01-03 18:28:24","extension":"docx","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":54516,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eSupplementary material\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Supplementarymaterial.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-2962219/v2/0f1cc5e99fa361733b0a821e.docx"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare potential competing interests as follows: Fränzi Korner-Nievergelt is employed by oikostat GmbH","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003eEffects of grazer density, season and land cover on bird guilds in a restored conservation area\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"rewilding, natural grazing, heterogeneity, area use, bovid, equid, bird guild, Konik, Highland","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-2962219/v2","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2962219/v2","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eContext\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGrazing by large herbivores is an increasingly used management tool in European nature reserves. A challenge in grassland conservation is to maintain both the openness and the heterogeneity of the habitat, to support their animal communities, including birds. Horses and cattle are often used to create and maintain patchy landscapes, especially in rewilding projects, but the influence of grazers on birds is often debated by conservationists.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eObjectives\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe studied how the abundance and species richness of birds of four foraging guilds are related to the area use of Highland cattle and Konik horses in an alluvial grassland. We also investigated how season and land cover influences the spatial distribution of individuals and species of different bird guilds on the grazed area.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMethods\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe equipped all grazers with GPS-collars to assess the density of their hourly positions. We made weekly transect counts of birds to describe their distribution and carried out land cover surveys to describe the habitat. We used GAMM models in a spatially explicit framework.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eResults\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOpen-area foraging birds were clearly associated with higher grazer densities, and aerial, wetland and woodland birds also seemed to profit from low-intensity year-round grazing. Most bird species and individuals were observed on open landscapes scattered with woody patches and waterbodies, and on areas with moderate grazer density. The number of birds on the grazed area was about twice the number on the ungrazed control area.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConclusions\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA heterogenous landscape maintained by low-intensity grazing seems to fulfil the needs of birds with different feeding ecologies.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Effects of grazer density, season and land cover on bird guilds in a restored conservation area","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":2,"date":"2024-01-03 18:28:19","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-2962219/v2","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}},{"code":1,"date":"2023-05-24 14:27:45","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-2962219/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"8fc6da85-8940-4b87-a560-7f9d9747fe17","owner":[],"postedDate":"January 3rd, 2024","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2023-09-10T06:14:20+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2024-01-03 18:28:19","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v2","identity":"rs-2962219","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-2962219","identity":"rs-2962219","version":["v2"]},"buildId":"qtupq5eGEP_6zYnWcrvyt","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}