Incomplete knowledge of the drivers of local productivity may contribute to the on-going decline of farmland bird populations despite conservation efforts. We therefore investigated spatial and temporal variation in breeding phenology, nest habitat, and nest survival in the Corn Bunting Emberiza calandra, a species of conservation concern in central and western Europe. Among 225 nests from seven study areas in cropland-dominated, mixed, and grassland-dominated landscapes, nesting phenology spread between April and August, started earlier at lower altitudes, and progressed from grassland to arable crop and agri-environment scheme flower field habitats. Nest habitats varied substantially between years, but most nests were placed in cultivated land where they were prone to fail due to land-use operations. Nest survival differed markedly between habitats, being lowest in second-year flower fields and highest in fallow grassland. Since we protected known nests, raw survival estimates only account for “natural” nest losses, e.g. due to adverse weather or predation. To estimate additional “anthropogenic” nest losses, we calculated probabilities of nesting schedules to conflict with patch-specific land-use dates. After taking into account the estimated conflict probabilities of 0.56 for mowing, 0.64 for clover harvest, and 0.38 for grazing, habitat-specific “total Mayfield nest survival” estimates declined to 21%, 13%, and 20% for meadows, alfalfa/clover-grass leys, and pastures, respectively. These habitats held about two thirds of nests in mixed landscapes, highlighting the relevance of land use-driven nest losses. To enhance productivity beyond the thresholds required for local population persistence, we propose refined conservation schemes that improve nest survival within production farmland, best coupled with the development of prolific “Corn Bunting landscapes”.

The importance of spring grass in the diet of early lactation dairy cows has been widely acknowledged. Numerous studies completed on a plot/paddock basis have identified methods of increasing herbage availability in spring, but little focus was placed on how this impacts animal production. The aim of the current study was to investigate the impact of opening farm cover (OFC; grass availability on farm at turnout in spring; 1036 (high), 748 (medium) and 544 (low) kg DM/ha) and spring rotation length (fast – 56 days and normal – 63 days) on animal performance in early lactation and herbage production and quality. Spring rotation length had little effect on animal performance, herbage variables or sward composition. High OFC increased pre-grazing herbage mass, allowing for increased daily herbage allowance (DHA) compared to medium and low OFC. There was a reduced proportion of leaf in the sward of the high OFC compared to the low OFC, resulting in lower organic matter digestibility. Despite the reduction in sward quality observed as a consequence of achieving high OFC in spring, the greater DHA available to animals increased milk production (+1.4 kg milk/cow/day). Additionally, animals grazing a medium or low OFC had a greater requirement for silage supplementation in spring (+1.3 kg DM/cow/day). The benefits of the higher DHA highlighted in the current study suggest that autumn grazing management must be adapted to increase herbage availability in spring. However, the benefits observed in milk production did not persist beyond the first grazing rotation.

The non-market values of changes in grassland management stimulated by changes in policies were estimated by choice modeling. Four-hundred twenty-seven residents of Hohhot city in Inner Mongolia were selected using the popular mobile phone application WeChat. Conditional logit (CL) and random parameter logit (RPL) models were estimated to analyze the preference of respondents for environmental and social attributes. Based on the preferred RPL model, the average per household willingness to pay over 10 years for the best policy outcome scenarios was estimated to be CNY892 (US$141). The total willingness to pay for this policy change, extrapolated to the population of Hohhot, was CNY208 million (US$33 million). The findings suggest that environmental and social outcomes are valuable to Chinese residents of a regional urban center. Such values should be viewed as a public financial base for market-based mechanisms for grassland protection both in China and internationally. WeChat proved to be convenient but required the application of extrapolation caveats relating to sample representation.

The potential to improve soils to help farmers and ranchers adapt to and mitigate climate change has generated significant enthusiasm. Within this discussion, grasslands have surfaced as being particularly important, due to their geographic range, their capacity to store substantial quantities of carbon relative to cultivated croplands and their potential role in mitigating droughts and floods. However, leveraging grasslands for climate change mitigation and adaptation will require a better understanding of how farmers and ranchers who rely on them for their livelihoods can improve management and related outcomes. To investigate opportunities for such improvements, we conducted a meta-analysis of field experiments that investigated how soil water infiltration rates are affected by a range of management options: adding complexity to grazing patterns, reducing stocking rates or extended rest from grazing. Further, to explore the relationships between observed changes in soil water infiltration and soil carbon, we identified papers that reported data on both metrics. We found that in 81.9% of all cases, responses of infiltration rates to identified management treatments (response ratios) were above zero, with infiltration rates increasing by 59.3 ± 7.3%. Mean response ratios from unique management categories were not significantly different, although the effect of extended rest (67.9 ± 8.5%, n = 140 from 31 experiments) was slightly higher than from reducing stocking rates (42.0 ± 10.8%; n = 63 from 17 experiments) or adding complexity (34.0 ± 14.1%, n = 17 from 11 experiments). We did not find a significant effect of several other variables, including treatment duration, mean annual precipitation or soil texture; however, analysis of aridity indices suggested that grazing management may have a slightly larger effect in more humid environments. Within our database, we found that 42% of complexity studies, 41% of stocking rate studies and 29% of extended rest studies also reported at least some measure of soil carbon. Within the subset of cases where both infiltration rates and carbon were reported, response ratios were largely positive for both variables (at least 64% of cases had positive mean response ratios in all management categories). Overall, our findings reveal that a variety of management strategies have the potential to improve soil water infiltration rates, with possible benefits for soil carbon as well. However, we identified a shortage of well-replicated and detailed experiments in all grazing management categories, and call for additional research of both soil water and soil carbon properties for these critical agroecosystems.

Barb goatgrass is an invasive annual grass from the Mediterranean region that negatively affects both native plant biodiversity and the forage quality of grasslands. Prescribed burning may be the best landscape-level tool available to manage invasive species like barb goatgrass while also enhancing biodiversity, but few studies have quantified the long-term effects of fire on goatgrass and the rest of the plant community. We assessed the effects of fire on an invading front of barb goatgrass on a private ranch in Sacramento County, CA. We established burned and unburned treatment plots within the goatgrass-infested area and used prescribed fire to burn the treatment plots in June 2005. We monitored plant-community composition before burning and for 7 consecutive yr following the burn. Additionally, we tested the viability of goatgrass seeds in both burned and unburned plots. One year after the burn, goatgrass cover in burned plots was 3% compared with 21% in unburned plots. This reduction in goatgrass cover was still strong 2 yr after the burn (burned, 6%; unburned, 27%) and weaker but still statistically significant for 4 of the next 5 yr. The burn also reduced germination of goatgrass seed by 99% as indicated by seed-viability tests conducted in the laboratory. The native plant community responded positively to the burn treatment in the first year following the burn with an increase in native diversity in burned plots vs. unburned plots, but the effect was not detectable in subsequent years. Nonnative annual forb species cover also increased in the first year following the burn. Our study shows that a single springtime burn can result in a short-term boost in native species diversity, reduced seed germination of barb goatgrass to near zero, and reduced cover of barb goatgrass for at least 7 yr after the burn.