Birds, Scythes and Combines

by Shrubb, Michael

• ISBN13: 9781107405172
• ISBN10: 1107405173
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-07-19
• Publisher: Cambridge Univ Pr

Summary

Despite the scale of change in agricultural methods in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, farmland birds were little affected, with many benefiting from the appearance of extensive new resources. This book is an historical account of the impact of changes in farming methods on the bird populations of British farmland over the past 250 years. A comparison with modern experience shows significant differences, with the more recent changes in grassland management, herbicide use and harvesting methods leading to a loss of diversity in farmland and, consequently, resulting in steep declines in bird numbers.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Acknowledgements

The agricultural background

The farmland birds

Arable farming systems: high farming and before

Enclosure

Some thoughts on hedges

Drainage

Weeds, weeding and pesticides

Arable farming systems: after 1945

Grassland and stock

Winter food resources

Labour, machines and buildings

Exploitation

Conclusions

Bibliography and references

Index

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.