Abstract
The number of large grazing birds (geese, cranes and swans) is increasing dramatically in Sweden and other parts of the world. The increase is due to decreased hunting, intensified agriculture and probably also due to restoration of wetlands. The wetlands are not only important for biodiversity and ecosystem services (as indicated by that half of the sixteen environmental objectives by the Swedish Parliament is linked to wetlands) but they also attract huge numbers of large grazing birds during breeding and migration. If restorations leads to increased crop damage it will cause a conflict between conservation efforts and agriculture that may escalate in a reluctance to set aside land for restoration and management of wetlands (e.g. cattle grazing of wet meadows). Moreover, the governmental compensations and subsidies for damage caused by the birds will also continue to increase (~35 million SEK the last 5 years). By modeling available data on 1) bird numbers (Swedish Species Gateway), 2) inspected damages (Wildlife Damage Centre, SLU), 3) crane movements (GPS-tagged, SLU), 4) land use and by complementing surveys on damage and field use by the birds we will identify and predict regional and local factors affecting concentrations of birds and damage on crops. With that knowledge at hand we will refine the cooperation between involved stakeholders and researchers to together suggest new strategies minimizing damage and mitigating the conflict between conservation and farming.
Sweden