Lebedeva:Waders in agriculturalhabitats of EuropeanRussia Wadersin agricultural habitats of EuropeanRussia E.A. Lebedeva Lebedeva,E.A. 1998. Wadersin agriculturalhabitats of EuropeanRussia. International Wader Studies 10: 315-324. Analysisof dataon the occurenceof waderspecies in varioustypes of agriculturalhabitats of EuropeanRussia shows that 63% of all waderspecies and 41%of breedingwaders in this area inhabitagricultural landscapes. Waders prefer natural meadows, used for hay-harvesting,various kindsof openpastoral habitats, and ricefields (in southernRussia). In recentyears many waders havepopulated other arable lands, especially cereal crops and varioustypes of fallowlands. Due to the abilityof wadersto useagricultural areas for breeding,some species have expanded northwardsin recentdecades following an increasein the extentof agriculturalareas in the northernpart of EuropeanRussia. Crude indices of vulnerabilityfor waderspecies breeding in agriculturalareas of EuropeanRussia has made it possibleto identifythree broad groups of species requiringdifferent types of attentionfrom ornithologistsand agriculturalworkers. Specieswhose occurenceon farmlandis mostimportant in termsof conservationinclude: Great Snipe Gallinago media,Sociable Plover Chettusia gregaria, Collared Pratincole Glareola pratincola, Curlew Nurnenius arquata,Stone Curlew Burhinusoedicnernus (Group I), with Black-tailedGodwit Lirnosalirnosa, Marsh SandpiperTringa stagnalis, Black-winged Pratincole Glareola nordmanni, Lapwing Vandlus vanellus, CommonSnipe Gallinago gallinago and RedshankTringa totanus in Group2. E.A. Lebedeva,Russian Bird Conservation Union, Shosse Entusiastov, 60, building1, Moscow,Russia. Ae0e/;esa,E.A. t998. Ky.•srs na cea•,croxo3s•cTsenm•x yro/•,sx EBponefic•ofi Poccss. Interrational Wader Studies 10: 315-324. Introduction The majorpart of non-forestedEuropean Russia is analyzethe role of agriculturalhabitats in currentlyused for agriculture.Given the extentof supportingpopulations of wadersfor European human activitiesin suchareas it is extremely Russia.As wadersare typical open-nesting birds, importantto evaluatetheir effecton natureand on theycan be consideredas good models for the birdsin particular.For suchpurposes, however, the studies of interrelations between birds and necessityof large-scalegeneralizations concerning agriculture.Owing to ecologicalpeculiarities of this speciescomposition, numbers, responses to group,one can observedifferent effects of agriculturalactivities etc. is obvious.Unfortunately agriculturalchange on birds:whilst somewaders no suchsummary data have yet beenpublished for sufferfrom drastichabitat changes and continuous our country. disturbanceby human activities,others can benefit from the appearenceof new typesof openareas In thispaper we havemade the first attemptto whichincrease ecological possibilities. 315 International Wader Studies 10: 315-324 Study areasand methods Extent and typology of agriculturalhabitats in European Russia Agriculturalhabitats occupy approximately half of the whole territoryof EuropeanRussia and coverin total about 114 m hectares(data for 1986;Kibalchich 1991). They havebeen traditionally separated by agriculturalistsinto the followingtypes: arable lands (c. 78.5m ha), hay meadows(c. 8.1 m ha) and pastures(c. 27.3 m ha). Within arablelands we have separatedsix different subtypes for thisanalysis: - barefallow - ploughedareas, left unsowedin summer; - other kinds of fallow lands, such as fields, left for oneor moreyears unploughed after harvesting; - winter cereals; - springcereals; - rice fields; - variouscultivated crops, such as potatoes,sugar beet,other vegetables, maise, sunflowers etc., - fieldswith perennialcrops, i.e. alfalfa, clover, medical herbs etc. The extentof the first two subtypes(bare fallow and otherfallow) in 1986was 7.98m ha; all cerealcrops (winterand springcereals with rice)occupied 38.0 m ha with winter cerealbeing most abundant; variouscultivated crops and perennialcrops were plantedrespectively on 22.45and 9.66m ha (Kibalchich 1991). :.. Hay meadowsshould be currentlysubdivided into at leasttwo groups,as traditionalnatural meadows are currentlybeing changed to artificiallysown, • t -'t,-'• high-productiveleys; consequently, the areaof natural meadows has decreased in the latest 30 , yearsby 41.7%(Kibalchich 1991). Figure1, •revalenceof different•es of agricul•ral habitatson •e territoryof Europe• Ru•ia accord•g to With respectto pastures,in the northernparts of T•h•ov (1983). EuropeanRussia they are representedmostly by b•s or othercoastal sites; 3) censusesof re•lar or intensivelygrazed tussocky types, while in central tempora• plots (•clud•g re•lar •anse•s) which and especiallysouthern Russia they are either we conside•to be the o•y acceptablemethod for highly overgrazeddry pastures,or moderately wader s•dies. grazedpastures with a mediumheight of grass- cover. Unfortunately,lack of agreementbetween ornithologistsworking on wadersin European Figure1 showsthose areas of EuropeanRussia Russia and elsewhere in Russia as to which kind of whereagricultural habitats prevail over other methods should be used for waders means that the habitattypes. numerousdispersed data on wadernumbers or densitiesare oftenincomparable. For thispaper we Methods used for wader censuses in have selectedonly thoseestimates that were either agriculturalhabitats of EuropeanRussia presentedin the form of densities,or couldbe Several traditional methods have been used in transformedinto similardensity estimates if the Russiafor bird censusesincluding wader counts: authorhas given the total surveyedarea. 1) censusesof regularor temporaryroutes with futher calculationsto give densitiesvalues. The Results and discussion mostwidespread methods are those of Ravkin Statusof different wader speciesin (1967) and Naumov (1963) with some later agriculturalhabitats of EuropeanRussia modifications.Although these methods have been workedout mostlyfor forestbirds, they arewidely A total of 48 wader species,including vagrants, usedin many wader counts;2) countsalong linear havebeen recorded in EuropeanRussia. Thirty- routes, often made in studies of waders on river- nine of thesespecies have been confirmed as breeding(Kozlova 1961-1962;Stepanyan 1990). 316 Lebedeva:Waders in agriculturalhabitats of EuropeanRussia Table 1. Statusof differentwader speciesin agriculturalhabitats of EuropeanRussia. Burhinusoedicnemus • OvergrazedBelik & Bakhtadze1982 drypasture Pluvialissquatarola •/ • Zinoviev1980 Pluvialisapricaria •/ Winter • • Belik1990; Zinoviev 1980 Charadriusdubius •/ ß • Kazakovetal. 1984; Butiev & Lebedeva 1990 Charadriusmorinellus •/ • Zin•)viev1980; Tilba 1990 Vanellusvanellus •/ Numerousdata, almost allhabitat types Chettusiagregaria Spring • ModeratelyFornin 1977; Davygora eta/.1989; grazed Khokhlov& Vitovich 1990 pastures Khokhlov1987; Himantopushimantopus •/ • ModeratelyKazakov etal. 1984,1988 grazed pastures Recurvirostraavocetta • • Kazakovet al. 1984 Haematopusostralegus •/ • Belik&Bakhtadze 1982 longipes Tringaochropus •/ • ß Kazakovetal. 1984; Zinoviev 1980; Butiev & Ezhova 1987 Tringaglareola •/ • • • Arable Kazakovet al. 1984; Zinoviev 1980 Tringanebularia •/ ß • • • Kazakovet al. 1984; Zinoviev 1980, Vinogradov1985 Tringatotanus Zinoviev1980; Kazakov et al. 1984 Tringaerythropus Kazakov et al. 1984 Tringastagnatilis $emagoetal. 1993 Actitishypoleucos Butiev & Lebedeva 1990 Xenuscinereus our data Philomachuspugnax Priklonsky1977; Zinoviev 1980; Belik 1990 Lymnocryptesminimus Ochapovsky1973; our data Gallinagogallinago Kazakovet al. 1984; Zinoviev 1980; ButievEzhova 1987; Konstantinov& Kutjin 1993 Gallinagomedia Kazakovet al. 1984; Zinoviev 1980; Nikiforov & Gibet 1987 Scolopaxrusticola Arable Tilba1990; Kazakov et al. 1984 Calidrisminutus Kazakovet al. 1984 Calidrisalpina ß Belik 1990 Numeniusarquata • Winter, Kazakovet al. 1984,1990;Butiev sprig & Lebedeva 1990 Limosalimosa Kazakovet al. 1984;Zinoviev 1980 Phalaropuslobatus Kazakov et al. 1984 Glareolapratincola Sprig Kazakovet al. 1984; Kazakov 1973 Glareolanordmanni Sprig ModeratelyKazakov et al. 1984;Denisov & grazed Frolov 1991 pastures Amongthese species 30 (63%of Europeanwader The breedingof somewader speciesin agricultural fauna)use various types of agriculturalhabitats, 16 habitatshas not yet beenproved, but seemsquite (41%of breedingfauna) nest in farmlandhabitats. possible.For example,Ringed Plovers Charadrius Data on the statusof wadersin agriculturalareas of hiaticulawere recordedas breeding in the wet EuropeanRussia are summarisedin Table1. tussockypastures of the Pripyatriver flood-plain, Belarus(the southernmost breeding area of the In somecases waders can also use rather untypical speciesin the whole of the formerUSSR; Nikiforov agriculturalsites, i.e. for StoneCurlew Burhinus et al. 1991),and thereforeit seemsprobable that it oedicnemusnesting in the orchardshas been proved canalso occur in similarhabitats in European in Saratovregion (Mezhnev 1990). Suchunusual Russia. records have not been included in Table 1. 317 International Wader Studies 10: 315-324 Table2. Dataon the densitiesof wadersbreeding in maintypes of farmlandhabitats in differentparts of EuropeanRussia. Little Ringed Vologdaregion 1970-1987 Butiev& Lebedeva(1990) Arable 0.004 Plover Oka valley Polyakova& Radetsky Springcereals 2.0 (OkskyNature Reserve) (1973) Lapwing WesternManych Lakes, earlyJune Kazakovet al. (1984) Ricefields 9.4-13.7 1974 Western Manych late lune Kazakovet al. (1984) Ricefields 3.04.0 Lakes 1975 Vologdaregion 1970-1985