50
H6tker: Grassland Waders
in the EC
Waders Breeding on Wet Grasslands in the
Countries of the European Community - a Brief
Summary of Current Knowledge on Population Sizes
and Population Trends
Hermann
HStker
HOtker,H. 1991.WadersBreedingon Wet Grasslands
in the Countriesof the EuropeanCommunity- a
Brief Summaryof CurrentKnowledgeon PopulationSizesandPopulationTrends.WaderStudyGroup
Bulletin61, Supplement:
50-55.
Recentestimatesof the populationsizesof grassland
waders(Oystercatchers,
Lapwings,Dunlins,Ruffs,
Snipes, Curlews, Black-tailed Godwits and Redshanks)breeding in the countriesof the European
Community(EC) are given (Table 1). Probablymore than half of all wadersof the EC breed on wet
grasslands.
In the EC all grassland
wadersexceptOystercatchers
are declining.The main reasonfor the
declineis habitatlossdue to agriculture.Effortsto protectthe grasslandwadersarebriefly reviewedand
somegapsin theknowledgeon grassland
wadersarementioned.
Hermann H6tker, Institutfar Haustierkunde,UniversitfitKiel, c/o WWF Wattenmeerstelle,
Norderstr. 3,
2250 Husum,Germany.
Introduction
As outlined earlier in this issue, political
decisionswhich have a potentialinfluenceon
wet grasslandhabitatsare increasinglyoften
taken on the level of the European
Community (EC). This holds especiallytrue
for agriculturalpolitics.Thereforeit seemsto
be useful to compile the available
information on waders breeding on wet
grasslands for the countries of the EC,
although this region is not directly a single
'biogeographic'
unit.
The aimsof thispaperare:
1. to give recent estimates of population
sizes of waders breeding on wet
grasslands
in the countriesof the EC;
compilation were
taken from
the
contributions of chapter 2 of this issue
(Beintema 1991a; Davidson 1991; Devos,
Kuijken & Meire 1991; Dubois, Mah6o &
HOtker 1991; Frikke 1991; Klinner 1991;
Reinke 1991; Ruffno & Neves 1991;Smith
1991).
Population estimates
The most recent published information is
compiled in Table 1. Data from Greece,
where
Oystercatchers
Haematopus
ostralegus,Lapwings VaneIIus vaneIIus and
Redshanks Tringa totanus are known to
breed, are lacking. The Greek populationsof
thesespeciesare, however,probably so low
that they do not influence greatly the
estimates for the EC as a whole.
2. to review the populationtrendsof these
waders;
3. to list the threatsfor the grasslandwader
populations
andtheirhabitats;and
4. to identify gapsin the knowledgeof the
wet grasslandwader populationsin the
The same
holds true for several Spanish provinces
where no information
Data
from
was available.
the former
German
Democratic
Republic are not includedbecausethe GDR
did not belong to the EC at the date of the
workshop which is the basis of these
proceedings.
EC.
Unless otherwise mentioned, the data for this
WSG Bulletin61, Suppl.: 50-55 (April 1991)
Most of the estimatesgiven in Table 1 are
fairly recent. Table 1 and also Table 2
H6tker: GrasslandWaders In the EC
51
:'9.
•;•
•
•
,
,
,
,
WSG Bulletin 61, Suppl.: 50-55 (April 1991)
52
H6tker: Grassland
Waders
In the EC
roughly reflect the situation of grassland on grasslandsin the EC are very rough
waders in the second half of the 1980s.
estimates:Oystercatcher5%; Lapwing 70%;
Dunlin (only the Danish population, 700
Table 1 and 2 include all wader species pairs); Ruff 100%; Snipe 70%; Black-tailed
which are considered as 'meadow birds' in at
Godwit 95%; Curlew 30%; Redshank 20%.
leasta part of their breedingrangein Europe,
although some of them usually nest also in
other habitats. For example most
Oystercatchersoccur in coastalhabitats,most
breeding Redshanks are found in salt
marshes, and only the Danish Dunlin
Calidris alpina schinzii population can be
considered as grassland-breeding.British
Dunlins occur in upland habitats (Sharrock
Accordingto thesefigures rather more than
600,000 pairs of waders breed on wet
grasslandswithin the EC. These are about
10% of the totalEuropean(excludingUSSR)
wader populationand more than 50 % of the
total wader population of 1,050,000 1,220,000 pairs in the EC (calculatedfrom
Piersma1986). Wet grasslands
can therefore
be considered to be the most important
breedinghabitatfor wadersin theEC.
1976)
and the rest of
the continental
European birds are in saltmarshes.Many
Curlews Nurnenius arquata nest on heaths
and moorlands,but grasslandsare alreadythe
most important breeding habitats in some
countries.
The non-grassland-breedingparts of these
meadow bird populationsmust be considered
here becausethe grassland-breeding
parts of
the populationsare not isolatedfrom them.
Geneticexchangebetweenthe birdsbreeding
on different habitats may be frequent. In
some cases, when grasslandhabitats are of
low quality for the waders, a non-grassland
breeding site may even be the place where
most or all of the young are producedwhich
later settle on the grassland.Grasslandin this
case is the B-land and the other habitat the A-
land in the sense of Beintema (1991b). In
extreme cases, wet grasslands may hold
considerablewader populationsonly because
there are some other good habitats nearby
which produce the chicks that are necessary
to balancethe inadequatereproductionin the
wet grasslands.In contrast, wet grasslands
may in the case of the Lapwing be the
habitatswhich allow arable breedingof this
species(Matter 1982, Galbraith 1988). For
Lapwings, Ruffs Philomachus pugnax,
SnipesGallinago gallinagoand Black-tailed
Godwits Limosa limosa wet grasslandsare
by far the most importantbreedinghabitats
within the countries of the EC.
Table 1 shows once more the outstanding
positionof The Netherlandsas a breeding
area for grassland waders, especially for
Black-tailedGodwitsand Oystercatchers.
Population trends
Table 2 gives a rough summary of the
available information on the population
trendsof grassland-breeding
wadersin some
countries
of the EC.
The overall
EC trends
were estimatedfrom the trendsof the single
countries.
In
the
case
of
different
trend
directions in different countries, the countries
with the bigger parts of the populationwere
valuedhigher.Unfortunatelynot all the trend
estimatesare basedon countrywideseriesof
count data. The lack of such data, as well as
underestimates
of populationsizesin former
years (see e.g. Beintema 1991a; Devos et al.
1991), result in this rather unsatisfactory
situation. Nevertheless, each of the trends
shown in Table 2 was carefully estimated
with the help of many experts and by
evaluatingmany setsof local countingdata.
Although the speed of the decreasesand
increases in population sizes cannot be
measured at present, the directions of the
trendsare very probablycorrect.
Within the EC area the situationis alarming:
all species,except the Oystercatcherand the
It is hard to estimatehow many wadersin the Curlew, are decreasing in numbers. With
EC actually breed on wet grasslands. Dunlin, Ruff, Snipe and Redshank the
Different species use this habitat to a decreaseoccurs consistentlyin nearly all
different extent in different countries. The
countries.Even the most numerousgrassland
followingpercentages
of populationsnesting wader, the Lapwing, is decliningin breeding
WSG Bulletin61, Suppl.:50-55 (Apd11991)
H6tker: Grassland
Waders
In the EC
53
Table 2. Population trends of grasslandwaders in different European countries.
+: increase;o: stablepopulation;-: decrease;
7: no information.
Oyster- Lapwing Dunlin
Ruff
Snipe Black- Curlew Redshank
catcher Vanellus Calidris Philo- Gallinago tailed Numenius Tringa
Haematopusvanellus alpina machus gallinago Godwit arquata totanus
ostralegus
pugnax
L. limosa
Denmark•
+
....
WestGermany
a
+
.......
The Netherlands•
-I-
O
Belgium
4
-I-
0
GreatBritains
-I-
-
France
•
0
-
Italy7
-
-I-
EuropeanCommunity
-I-
-
-
-
+
+
.9
-
-I-
-
0
=
-I- .
0
-
0/-
=
=
0
-
-I-
-
O/-
-I-
sources:l:Frildce 1991, Frildcepers. comm.; 2: Klinner 1991, I-I•terlein pers. comm., OAG Mfinsterpers.
comm.,R6snerpers.comm.3: Beintema1991a;4: Devoset al. 1991; 5: Smith 1991, Smithpers.comm.;6:
Duboisetal. 1991;7: Tinarelli & Baccetti1989,Serrapers.comm.
numbersin mostpartsof its Europeanrange.
The increaseof the smallItalian populationis
believed to be the result of lower hunting
pressurein recentyears(Tinarelli & Baccetti
1989). The total EC breedingpopulationof
the Black-tailed Godwit is decreasing,
althoughthere are (still?) places where this
trend
is
reversed.
The
situation
for
the
Netherlands and Belgium the smallest
proportionof populationsis on the decline.
The situationis worst in Germany,where all
speciesexceptOystercatchers
are declining.
Reasons for population
and protection
trends
Curlew is not very clear.
Orderingthe speciesin Table 2 accordingto
the percentagesof 'declines'gives almost
exactly the same sequenceof speciesas in
Beintema'sscheme.The only exceptionis the
Curlew, which declinesrelativelymore often
than expected. The declines of Curlew
populationsprobably take place mostly on
The main reasonfor the declineof grassland
waders in the EC is very obviously habitat
destruction.Breedinghabitatsare mostoften
lost due to changesin agriculturalpractices,
particularlydrainageand the intensification
of farming, as reported from Denmark
(Frikke 1991), The Netherlands (Beintema
1991a), Belgium (Devos et al. 1991),
Germany(Klinner 1991, Reinke 1991), Great
Britain (Davidson 1991, Smith 1991), and
France (Dubois et al. 1991). In this respect
the transition between 'habitat change' and
'habitatdestruction'is gradual.A drainedand
other habitats than wet meadows. In contrast,
fertilized
Curlew populationson wet grasslandsare
reported to increase (for example in The
Netherlands,Beintema 1991a).
grasslandhas alreadylost its suitabilityfor
certainwader species,and, therefore,may be
classifiedas'destroyedhabitat'.
These findings fit well into Beintema's
(1983) schemeof preferanceand toleranceof
meadow birds for intensity levels of
agriculturalmanagement(for an illustration
of the schemein this volume seeWitt 1991).
field
which
still looks like
a wet
Regardingto single countriesthe breeding Habitat loss due to other factors, mainly
harbours, industrial
conditionsfor grasslandwaders seemto be enlargement of
fine in the centre of their distribution. In The
developments,and road building, is the
WSG Bulletin 61, Suppl.: 50-55 (April 1991)
54
H6tker: Grassland
second most often mentioned
reason for the
declineof grasslandwaders.Relevantreports
come from Great Britain, France, Belgium
andGermany.
At least in France (Dubois et al. 1991) and in
Italy (Tinarelli & Baccetti 1989) hunting is
thought to limit the sizes of some wader
populations.
Efforts to protect wet grasslandsand the
waders breeding on them are undertakenin
Denmark, Germany, The Netherlands, and
Great Britain. The mostwidespreadapproach
consists
of
different
kinds
of
grasslandsare, however,very obvious.Since
they have been known for a long time (see
e.g. Bauer & Thielcke 1982), these gaps in
knowledge should,of course,not hinder the
immediate implementation of conservation
actionsas recommended
in Chapter4 of this
volume.
There appearto be four major deficienciesin
the information on waders breeding in wet
grasslands
in theEC:
1. there is too little census data available
for
the analysisof populationtrends;
2. the population estimates for Lapwings
haveto be improvedandupdated;
.
the wet grasslandwader populationsof
Greece and Spain deserve further
investigations;
and
.
the dangers for grassland wader
populationsoutside the breeding season
are only poorlyunderstood.
Great Britain.
of the conservation
In the EC
set-aside
programmes.Farmersare paid to refrain from
practiceswhich are believedto be harmfulto
breedingwaders.Large reservesfor meadow
birds exist only in The Netherlandsand on a
smallerscalealso in Denmark, Germanyand
The outcome
Waders
efforts in
different countries are judged very
differently. In The Netherlands, where
probablymost has been done to protectwet
grasslands,the results are consideredto be
good. In Denmark some of the reserves
provedto be efficient in sustainingespecially
the vulnerablespecies.In Germany, the setasideprogrammesso far do not seemto be
very effective for the protectionof birds, in
spite of the rather large amountsof money
paid to the farmers.
In order to fill in these gaps in knowledge
more completenationalsurveysare required
for the scarcespecies.For the more common
species monitoring schemesneed to be
established.
These
schemes
have
to
be
capableof judging the effects of large-scale
habitatlosses.Someof thepastschemeshave
partly failed to do (seeSmith 1991): habitats
which have lost their significance for
Beintema's (1991a) observationthat reserves breeding waders must remain in the
are usefulfor protectingvulnerablegrassland monitoringscheme.
wadersin The Netherlandsfinds parallelsin
other countries, where the populations of
very scarcespeciesare stable.Examplesare Acknowledgements
the Ruffs and Black-tailed
Godwits in Great
Britain. Reserves may even lead to a
concentrationof the breedingwaders within
their borders,as the example of the Danish
Dunlins shows(Frikke 1991;Thorup 1991).
I am gratefulto JohnFrikke, Brigitte Klinner
and Ken Smith for all the information
that
was neccessaryto compile this overview. I
would like to thank Nick Davidson, David
Fleet and Brigitte Klinner for valuable
comments on earlier drafts.
Gaps in knowledge
The preceedingchaptersof thispapershowed References
somegapsin the knowledgeof populations
of grassland-breeding
waders. These are Bauer, S. & Thielcke, G. 1982. Gefahrdete
listed below. The reasons for the decline of
the waders breeding on European wet
WSG Bulletin61, Suppl.:50-55 (April 1991)
Brutvogelarten
in der BRD und im Land Berlin.
Die Vogelwarte31: 183-391.
H(Stker: Grassland
Waders
in the EC
Beintema, A.J. 1983. Meadow birds as indicators.
Environmentalmonitoringand assessment
3: 391398.
Beintema, A.J. 1991a. Status and Conservation of
Meadow Birds in the Netherlands.Wader Study
GroupBulletin61, Supplement:
12-13.
Beintema, A.J. 1991b. What Makes a Meadow Bird a
Meadow Bird? Wader StudyGroup Bulletin 61,
Supplement:
3-5.
Bezzel, E. 1985. Kompendium der VOgel
Mitteleuropas.
Nonpasser,formes. Aula,
Wiesbaden.
Davidson, N.C. 1991. BreedingWaders on British
EstuarineWet Grasslands. Wader StudyGroup
Bull.61, Supplement:
36-41.
Devos, K., Meire, P. & Kuijken, E. 1991. Recent
PopulationEstimatesof Meadow-Breeding
Waders
in Belgium. Wader Study Group Bulletin 61,
Supplement:14-22.
Dominguez, J., Barcena, F., Souza, J.A. &
Villarino, A. 1987. Breeding waders in Galicia,
north-westSpain.WaderStudyGroupBulletin 50:
28 -29.
Dubois, P.J., Mah6o, R. & Hbtker, H. 1991: Waders
Breeding on Wet Grasslandsin France. Wader
StudyGroupBulletin61, Supplement:
27-31.
Dybbro, T. 1981. (A surveyof wader populationsin
Denmark.) Proc. 2nd Nordic Congr. Orn. 1979:
109-110.In Danishwith Englishsummary.
Frikke, J. 1991. Waders and Wet GrasslandHabitats
in Denmark.. Wader Study Group Bulletin 61,
Supplement:
42-49.
Galbraith, H. 1988. The breeding ecology of
Lapwingson Scottishagriculturalland.JournaloJ
AppliedEcology25: 487-504.
G!utz v. B!otzheim, U.N., Bauer, K.M. & Bezzel, E.
1975. Handbuchder VOgelMitteleuropas.Vol. 6
Charadriiformes(1. Teil). AkademischeVerlagsgeseilschaft,
Wiesbaden.
55
H61zinger,J. & Schmid, G. (eds.) 1982. ArtenschutzSymposium GroBer Brachvogel. Beih. VerOff.
Naturschutz u.
Landscha.
fispfiege BadenW'tirttemberg
25: 1-124.
K!inner, B. 1991. BreedingWaders on Wet Grasslands (Inland Sites) in West Germany: Recent
Data. Wader Study Group Bulletin 61,
Supplement:
22-25.
Matter,
H.
1982.
EinfluB
intensiver
Feldbewirtschaftungauf den Bruterfolg des
Kiebitzes Vanellus vanellus in Mitteleuropa.Der
OrnithologischeBeobachter
79: 1-24.
Melchior, E., Mentgen, E., Peltzer, R., Schmitt, R.
& Weiss, J. 1987. Atlas der BrutvOgel
Luxemburgs.Letzeburger Natur- a Vulleschutzliga, Luxembourg.
Pierstoa, T. (compiler) 1986. Breeding Waders in
Europe. Wader Study Group Bulletin 48,
Supplement:
1-116.
Reinke, E. 1991. Breeding Waders on Wet Grasslands (Inland Sites) in West Germany:Examples
for Conservation Programmes. Wader Study
GroupBulletin61, Supplement:
25-27.
Ruffno, R. & Neves,R. 1991. Snipe on Wet Grasslandsin Portugal.WaderStudyGroupBulletin 61,
Supplement:
31-32.
Sharrock, J.T.R. 1976. The Atlas of BreedingBirds
in
Britain
and
Ireland.
British
Trust
for
Ornithology,Tring.
Smith, K.W. 1991. Breeding Waders of Damp
Lowland
Grassland in Britain
and Ireland.
Wader
StudyGroupBulletin61, Supplement:
33-35.
Thorup, O. 1991. PopulationTrendsand Studieson
BreedingWadersat the Nature-ReserveTipperne.
Wader StudyGroup Bulletin 61, Supplement.7881.
Tinare!!i, R. & Baccetti,N. 1989. Breedingwadersin
Italy. WaderStudyGroupBulletin56: 7-15.
WSG Bulletin 61, Suppl,: 50-55 (April 1991)