A comparison of farmland avifauna between Finnish and Russian Karelia

Abstract

The intensification of agricultural management has reduced the populations of farmland birds throughout Europe, including Finland. During the past 50 years, changes in agricultural practices have been more dramatic in Finnish Karelia than in the adjacent areas in Russia. This unique large scale experimental arrangement was utilised in a field study in 1998 and 1999 when the farmland avifaune was studied using line transect counts (n = 25) and point censuses of night-singing birds (n = 118). The composition and abundance of species in general was rather similar on both sides of the border. However, the species favouring scrub (night-singers) and pastures (Crex crex, Sturnus vulgaris, Motacilla flava) were more abundant in Russia whereas species benefiting from cereal cultivation (Emberiza hortulana, E. citrinella) or the openness of fields (Numenius arquata) were concentrated in Finland. In future, changes in the agricultural policy, e.g. increased establishment of shelter-beds and abandonment of mixed farms in Finland and the privatisation of farms in Russia, are likely to change this pattern.