In recent decades, the northern wheatear has declined sharply in the Netherlands. This characteristic breeding bird of dry open dunes is struggling with, among other things, habitat degradation due to nitrogen deposition. Because the species often breeds in old rabbit burrows, the decline in the rabbit population is also a problem. Sovon is conducting research … Read More
Author: Marcel
Farmland practices are driving bird populations decline across Europe
Biodiversity is exposed to increasing pressure by climate and land use changes. But how are species responding to these pressures and which pressure is more dominant remain controversial questions. A recent collaborative study including 28 European countries assesses, for the first time, how 170 bird species have responded to major human induced pressures at a … Read More
More grazing geese does not always mean less harvest
It would seem logical: more geese eat more grass, leaving less for the farmer to harvest. But a recent study suggests it may not be so straightforward. An international team led by the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) looked at the impact of different goose species and the number of geese on agricultural damage. Their … Read More
Save the chicks to save the population
On September 14, 2022, Magali Frauendorf will defend her thesis ‘Causes of spatiotemporal variation in reproductive performance of Eurasian oystercatchers in a human-dominated landscape’ at Radboud University. In December 2016 she started her PhD in the project CHIRP (Cumulative Human Impact on biRd Populations) at the Netherlands Institute of Ecology in collaboration with Radboud University … Read More
Symposium Oystercatcher 29 October 2022
Why is the Oystercatcher population declining ? And can we turn this tide? What are the cumulative effects of human activities in the breeding and wintering areas? The Cumulative Human Impact on biRd Populations (CHIRP) study investigated these questions. CHIRP will be closed at the beginning of 2022. In the Symposium Oystercatcher we look back … Read More
Why is the population of breeding Mallards in the Netherlands declining?
Why is the population of breeding Mallards in the Netherlands declining? Based on an analysis of four different datasets collected by citizen scientists, researchers from Sovon Vogelonderzoek, Radboud University and the Vogeltrekstation have come to the conclusion that a high duckling mortality is the main cause. If we want to protect the Mallard, we will … Read More
Global warming combined with other changes in the environment presents “double whammy” for birds
A new study from researchers at The Australian National University (ANU) rolls back the curtain on half a century of evidence highlighting climate change-driven changes in more than 60 different bird species in the United Kingdom and The Netherlands. The research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and carried out in … Read More
A statistical guide to quantify body condition using the oystercatcher population in the Netherlands as an example
The fitness of an individual bird is a very important measure in the research of behaviour, evolution and the protection of species. But how do we quantify fitness? Is it just the body weight of an animal, or do we need to measure more variables? And how do you do this in a good manner … Read More
What are the effects of aircraft on birds in the Dutch Wadden Sea?
The Wadden Sea is of great importance to shorebirds, with millions of birds overwintering or fuelling for migration in the area each year. But they also face disturbances from natural and anthropogenic sources, including raptors, walkers, cyclists, boats and aircraft. A new, three-year study takes a detailed look at the effects of aircraft on the … Read More