Effects of restoration and management regime on the avifaunal composition on Swedish wet meadows

Abstract

The present study is an attempt to evaluate the effects of restorations and management regimes on the breeding bird fauna on wet meadows in southern Sweden. A significant population change following a restoration was noted for nine of the 34 studied species and, additionally, several species showed non-significant trends. Species positively affected by restorations generally show a declining national trend. Furthermore, a species was more likely to increase if a breeding population was present before the restoration was initiated. The effects of management regimes were somewhat ambiguous, probably due to the fact that the defined management regimes were based on relatively coarse classifications (grazing, mowing or mowing combined with grazing). A subsequent test showed that associations with area and type of surrounding habitat were of equal importance for the breeding bird fauna as the choice of management regime. Information was obtained for only 15 meadow areas, and in order to attain a larger database concerning the effects of wet meadow restorations and management regimes, a simple standard protocol is suggested.