Birds As Useful Indicators Of High Nature Value Farmlands

This book helps to establish a simple framework to identify and use bird species as a bioindicator for high nature value (HNV) farmlands. This book focuses on suitable methods for monitoring the HNV areas, and presents the results of several case studies. The chapters put forward ways to integrate ecosystems assessment, geographical information systems (GIS) and strategies for conservation of local biodiversity. An innovative framework focuses on the use of species distribution models (SDMs) in order to explore the importance of each characteristic of HNV farmlands. Furthermore, the book examines the relationships among bird species richness, land use diversity and landscape metrics at a local scale in the farmlands.

This volume gathers the latest advances, innovations, and applications in the field of biosystems engineering, as presented at the 12th Conference of the Italian Association of Agricultural Engineering (AIIA), held in Palermo, Italy, on September 19-22, 2022. Focusing on the challenges of improving the resilience of agriculture, forestry and food systems in the post-Covid era, it shows how the research has addressed the following topics: Monitoring and modelling hydraulic and hydrological processes in agriculture and forestry systems; Challenges in stream rehabilitation and soil conservation strategies; Sustainable water resource management under climate change scenarios; Planning safe, healthy and resilient territorial, built and green systems; Cultural heritage preservation and rural landscape protection, planning and management; Plant and livestock production processes and technologies. Healthy and Organic farming. Animal welfare; Energy, waste and by-products smart use; Post-harvest logistics and food chain structures technology; Applications and experiences in smart agriculture and forestry; One Health, management and standardization for agriculture and forestry machinery and structures; Big data, machine learning and data hub in biosystems engineering. The contributions were selected by a rigorous peer-review process, and offer an extensive and multidisciplinary overview of the research in the field of biosystems engineering for sustainable agriculture.

The sounds produced by geophonic, biophonic and technophonic sources are relevant to the function of natural and human modified ecosystems. Passive recording is one of the most non-invasive technologies as its use avoids human intrusion during acoustic surveys and facilitates the accumulation of huge amounts of acoustical data. For the first time, this book collates and reviews the science behind ecoaucostics; illustrating the principles, methods and applications of this exciting new field. Topics covered in this comprehensive volume include; the assessment of biodiversity based on sounds emanating from a variety of environments the best technologies and methods necessary to investigate environmental sounds implications for climate change and urban systems the relationship between landscape ecology and ecoacoustics the conservation of soundscapes and the social value of ecoacoustics areas of potential future research. An invaluable resource for scholars, researchers and students, Ecoacoustics: The Ecological Role of Sounds provides an unrivalled set of ideas, tools and references based on the current state of the field.

Birds have and continue to fascinate scientists and the general public. While the avian respiratory system has unremittingly been investigated for nearly five centuries, important aspects on its biology remain cryptic and controversial. In this book, resolving some of the contentious issues, developmental-, structural- and functional aspects of the avian lung-air sac system are particularized: it endeavors to answer following fundamental questions on the biology of birds: how, when and why did birds become what they are? Flight is a unique form of locomotion. It considerably shaped the form and the essence of birds as animals. An exceptionally efficient respiratory system capacitated birds to procure the exceptionally large quantities of oxygen needed for powered (active) flight. Among the extant air-breathing vertebrates, comprising ~11,000 species, birds are the most species-rich-, numerically abundant- and extensively distributed animal taxon. After realizing volancy, they easily overcame geographical obstacles and extensively dispersed into various ecological niches where they underwent remarkable adaptive radiation. While the external morphology of birds is inconceivably uniform for such a considerably speciose taxon, contingent on among other attributes, lifestyle, habitat and phylogenetic level of development have foremost determined the novelties that are displayed by diverse species of birds. Here, critical synthesizes of the most recent findings with the historical ones, evolution and behavior and development, structure and function of the exceptionally elaborate respiratory system of birds are detailed. The prominence of modern birds as a taxon in the Animal Kingdom is underscored. The book should appeal to researchers who are interested in evolutionary processes and how adaptive specializations correlate with biological physiognomies and exigencies, comparative biologists who focus on how various animals have solved respiratory pressures, people who study respiration in birds and other animals and ornithologists who love and enjoy birds for what they are – profoundly interesting animals.

"High Nature Value (HNV) farming is inherently valuable for biodiversity and forms a living cultural and natural heritage. HNV farmland comprises semi-natural pastures, meadows and orchards, as well as species-rich arable land, and often retains a wealth of landscape features. HNV farming is present in all European countries, with a diversity of types and extent. Apart from being the cornerstone of European farmland biodiversity, these types of farming provide a multitude of other services for society, including sustainable rural economies, and the rich social fabric and character of Europe's landscapes. The environmental, socio-cultural and territorial significance of HNV farming is increasingly recognised, but greater awareness is needed amongst policy makers and the wider public. This book presents an overview of HNV farming across 35 European countries, describing the main characteristics and presenting examples of farming systems, farms and farmers."--Publisher.

The main objective of this study was to compile information on the character and distribution of low intensity farmland systems in Europe, from a primarily nature conservation perspective. Most of the information is drawn from national studies. The conclusions include some consideration of policy issues, particularly for the EU countries

This report updates the data published in the 2015 OECD Compendium of Agri-environmental Indicators to present a summary of the environmental performance of agriculture in OECD countries as of end-2015. It also includes new and innovative material to further strengthen its relevance as a reference document.

Provides comprehensive data and analysis on the environmental performance of agriculture in OECD countries since 1990, covering soil, water, air and biodiversity and looking at recent policy developments in all 34 countries.