Correlations between landscape features and crop type and the occurrence of the Ortolan Bunting Emberiza hortulana in farmlands of Central Italy

Abstract

The occurrence of Ortolan Bunting, a declining species in Europe, was investigated in relation to environmental characteristics of agricultural landscapes in Central Italy. The present work evaluated the significance of landscape features, land-use composition and crop type at the 7-ha scale, in predicting the presence of the Ortolan Bunting. The presence of the species was not strongly linked with measures of habitat heterogeneity, but was related to certain crop types: sunflower, oats and alfalfa, and also to the availability of bare soil. Patches of bare soil may be characteristic for important foraging sites of the focal species. These results may help to predict Ortolan Bunting responses to changes in farming practices, and improve farmland management for the maintenance of the Ortolan Bunting populations in Italy.