Rok Lobnik

  Faculty of Science and Engineering | Bachelor Maastricht Science Programme

Land-use Changes in a Traditional Mosaic-Like Landscape as Cause for Population Decline of the Red-backed Shrike (Lanius Collurio) in Šturmovci (Ne Slovenia)

Rok's elevator pitch
Farming intensification poses a huge threat to Europe’s biodiversity, reflected in over 60% decline of farmland bird populations within past 40 years. Through Information-Theoretic approach we modelled habitat use of a representative farmland bird species, the Red-Backed Shrike (Lannius collurio), in a protected landscape park in North-Eastern Slovenia. We examined how land-use change has affected its population in the last 20 years, by calculating its population trend and correlating it to the change of several land-use types to identify the main drivers of Shrike population decline. Obtained results could be of utmost importance for conserving several species that rely on unmanaged cultural landscapes.