Complete: Value of sugar beet crop for birds and farm environment

Main Objectives

As many farmland bird species avoid nesting or foraging amongst dense vegetation, the project tested the hypothesis that leaving small (c.4m x 4m) unplanted plots (sometimes known as ‘skylark scrapes’), at a density of two plots per hectare within the crop, would increase access for ground nesting or foraging birds. Leaving plots has been demonstrated to increase skylark productivity in winter wheat, at very low cost to the farmer (Morris et al., 2004). On each of the 15 sites, bird use, plant food and vegetation structure were compared between ‘Plot’ and ‘Control’ (normal-husbandry sugar beet) treatments. Treatments were normally situated on a single large (>10ha) split field.