Research into action: grey partridge conservation as a case study

Abstract

The grey partridge Perdix perdix L. has been described as one of the archetypal farmland birds. Like the skylark Alauda arvensis and the corn bunting Emberiza calandra L., it is closely associated with open-farmed landscapes (Potts 1986) and is therefore sensitive to changes in farming intensity. It has undergone a 91% decline in abundance between 1970 and 2009 (Eaton et al. 2010) and a 19% contraction in range between 1970 and 1990 (Gibbons, Reid & Chapman 1993). As a result of these declines, the grey partridge is on the UK red list of Birds of Conservation Concern (Eaton et al. 2009) and was designated as a Biodiversity Action Plan species (Anon 1995). It is also one of the nineteen species that make up the Farmland Bird Index and one of the UK's official Biodiversity 2020 indicators (DETR 1999).

Historically, grey partridge numbers fluctuated according to the economic viability of British agriculture, doing badly during periods of agricultural slump (pre-repeal of the Corn Laws in 1832, the 1930s depression) and doing well during the years of arable expansion (Napoleonic Wars) (Potts 1986). The current sustained decline in grey partridge numbers began in the 1950s as evidenced from national bag data and March pair counts (Potts 1986). This was the time when the UK's agricultural industry began the process of intensification, both increasing production per unit area and polarizing production so that mixed arable/livestock farms were replaced in the west by all-grass farms and in the east by all-arable farms (Donald, Green & Heath 2001). Agricultural policy still has an important influence on grey partridge distribution and abundance as elements of wildlife conservation are introduced to National and European policies in the form of agri-environment schemes and as the take-up of such schemes is affected by the international price of commodity crops such as cereals (e.g. Pain & Pienkowski 1997).