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Project properties |
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| Title | Birds in strip cropping systems |
| Group | Farming Systems Ecology |
| Project type | thesis |
| Credits | 24-36 |
| Supervisor(s) | Rik Waenink, Dirk van Apeldoorn |
| Examiner(s) | Felix Bianchi |
| Contact info | rik.waenink@wur.nl |
| Begin date | 2022/02/01 |
| End date | 2022/09/30 |
| Description | This project investigates if strip cropping benefits field-breeding farmland birds. Strip cropping (https://weblog.wur.eu/spotlight/more-nature-in-fields-through-strip-cropping/) is an in-field diversification strategy where crops are grown in distinct long and narrow strips of approximately 3 to 30 meters wide. Strip cropping can potentially offer many benefits to our threatened farmland birds (e.g. skylark, yellow wagtail and partridge), as strip cropping increases insect availability and multiple crops are available within a single bird’s range to breed, forage and shelter in. You will learn to approach strip cropping from a bird’s perspective.
Over the past two years we have set up a network of strip cropping fields throughout the Netherlands where (breeding) birds are monitored. The birds are surveyed in both cropping fields and associated monoculture references, both by you and our project partners. Besides quantifying bird abundance, you can dive into habitat and breeding ecology: where do birds such as yellow wagtail and skylark nest, where do they collect food, how many chicks do they raise? The project thus involves a lot of field work in beautiful arable landscapes. In addition, you will collaborate with our project partners (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Grauwe Kiekendief – Kenniscentrum Akkervogels, Het Zeeuwse Landschap and others) and communicate and advice farmers. As this exciting research has just started, many aspects are unknown and thus a lot is still to be discovered. Note: This thesis is also open for MBI and MFN students. |
| Used skills | Used skills
- Field work - Bird research - (Spatial) data analysis - Project management |
| Requirements | Driver’s license, Dutch speaking (to communicate with Dutch farmers and project partners). You do not necessarily have to be a birder, as long as you are enthusiastic about birds and are willing to learn how to identify them.
For examination at FSE the student needs to have finished at least one of the following courses: FSE32306, FSE31806, FSE30306 |