How rare birds could be common
Human interference has prevented rare birds such as the golden eagle becoming more widespread in Britain, according to a study.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has investigated how humans have disrupted habitats and affected bird species.
It found that ten species such as the Kentish plover, now only a rare migrant to this country, could have even become common if it were not for deforestation and drainage of wetlands. The white-tailed eagle was also projected to have established itself more widely.
Rare birds like the Golden Eagle would be common in Britain if it were not for human interference with habitats, a new study has revealed.
Ten species like the Kentish Plover, now only a rare migrant to this country, could have even become widespread if it were not for deforestation and drainage of wetlands.
The White-tailed Eagle, the Black-winged Stilt, and Greenshank, who have small presences, were also projected to have established themselves more widely if it were not for damaging human activity.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has investigated how humans have disrupted habitats and impacted bird species.
While 42 per cent of the 183 breeding bird species would be more widespread if it were not for humans, others that are common today would actually be rarer if it was not for agriculture.
Farmland bird species, like the Turtle Dove and Grey Partridge, would be affected if it was not for the open habitats formed by farming, the study found.
Co-lead author of the study, Dr Tom Mason, previously of Durham University's Department of Biosciences, but now based at the Swiss Ornithological Institute, said: "Our study suggests that farmland bird species, such as Turtle Dove and Grey Partridge, would be less widespread without the open habitats created by agriculture while moorland species, such as Golden Eagle and Greenshank, have probably been negatively affected by the long-term, extractive human use of moorlands by grazing, burning, hunting and forestry.
"We also found that species found in dense woodlands, such as Goshawk and Capercaillie, would be much more widespread in a 'human-free' Great Britain, which would be much more forested than the present day."
Professor Stephen Willis, of Durham University's Department of Biosciences, co-lead author on the study, said: "Our results could lead to reassessments of current conservation priorities.
"We identified 21 species that were not classified as threatened by the IUCN Red List for Great Britain but which had much smaller current distributions than we predict them to have in the absence of human activities.
"This suggests that their ranges are in a more degraded state than currently recognised. "Some of these species, such as Greenshank, Golden Eagle and Whinchat, are not under active conservation management and could be candidates for higher prioritisation."
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds will use the research as one way to argue for 'favourable conservation status', a political standard set for the conservation of migratory species under the Bonn Convention.
Study co-author Dr Gillian Gilbert, of the RSPB, said: "This work could help to target where habitat and species restoration actions might lead to the return of historically lost species, or even to novel colonists."
The investigation’s findings have been published in the journal Ecological Indicators.