A regional-scale study of associations between farmland birds and linear woody networks of hedgerows and trees

Abstract

Farmland birds have declined throughout Europe over recent decades. Many farmland songbirds are associated with linear woody features on field boundaries, such as hedgerows and tree lines. Previous studies have assessed songbird associations with specific hedgerow and tree characteristics, and their landscape context, but large scale assessments have been limited by difficulties in mapping linear woody networks over large extents, particularly their height structure. We used a high-resolution lidar model of the complete network of linear woody features in southwest England (9424 km2), summarising linear feature lengths by height class. Associa