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1. Farmland biodiversity continues to decline mainly because of agricultural intensification and land abandonment. Agri‐environment schemes can be designed to halt this loss by favouring extensification of agricultural practices and through sympathetic management of field boundaries and fallow land. In Europe, High Nature Value (HNV) farmland is defined as low‐intensity farmland supporting or associated with a high rate of biodiversity, in terms of species richness or habitat diversity and therefore plays a crucial role in the maintenance of European biodiversity. However, no large‐scale analysis has explored the role of these areas in achieving conservation goals. 2. We analysed information from widely used indicators in order to describe the impact of low‐intensity agriculture on farmland biodiversity in France. We used the HNV farmland indicator, based on agricultural statistics such as the Farm Structure Survey and the grassland survey, and common bird indicators, i.e. the Farmland Bird Indicator (FBI), the Community Specialization Index (CSI) and species richness indexes, based on the French Breeding Bird Survey. 3. Temporal trends in the farmland bird indicator showed that populations of farmland birds were more likely to increase inside HNV areas compared to non‐HNV areas. Although species richness is not higher within HNV farmland, bird communities are composed by more specialist species than in non‐HNV areas. In addition, these specialist bird species are significantly more abundant in HNV areas. 4. Synthesis and applications. Further farmland biodiversity decline is potentially reversible through an appropriate management of HNV areas. Existing and future agri‐environment schemes should focus on preserving and extending HNV farmland, by favouring the maintenance of low‐intensity agriculture and landscape complexity. Priority should be given to preserving diversity at the community level, with the help of adequate indicators, such as the ones presented here. The role of HNV farmland or similar concepts in combining agriculture and biodiversity goals should be further analysed and further used as large‐scale conservation tools.

Agricultural intensification has resulted in bird population declines on farmland, with farmland bird specialists affected the most due their reliance on more traditional farming methods. Current voluntary breeding bird monitoring schemes across Europe require the observer to identify many species by sight and/or sound and often use complex survey methods and techniques, which might deter individuals from taking part. Indicator species provide a solution whereby only a few ‘flagship’ species need to be known to the observer, and these species indicate the status of the rest of the species within that taxon. Our aim was to determine if indicator species could be identified that correlated with the diversity or abundance of different bird communities present on farmland. We used breeding bird survey data collected on two Farmer Clusters, one in England and one in Scotland between 2021 and 2024. Using the 2021–2023 data, NMDS visualisation and further GLMM testing, several species were identified as potential indicator species. Corn Bunting, Linnet and Skylark were the species most strongly correlated with specialist farmland species' abundance, with Linnet showing a significant positive relationship against specialist farmland abundance and richness in both Farmer Clusters. In both Farmer Clusters, Goldfinch showed a positive significant relationship with total bird community species richness and abundance. The reliability of these indicator species was then tested against the 2024 data. Corn Bunting, Linnet and Skylark were again found to be significant when tested against specialist farmland abundance; while in England, Goldfinch and Stock Dove were significant when tested against total bird abundance. The farmland bird indicators identified here provide a much simpler list of species for a practitioner to learn to identify and survey and allow the surveyor to capture the overall diversity of farmland birds but also the status of the specialist communities.

One of the main questions in ecology and conservation is how organisms are governed and affected by their traits within the context of abiotic gradients. The main question of our study addresses how patch, topography, and land use influence conservation trait status (rarity and red-list index) of birds generally, and of farmland and woodland specialists specifically, in marginal forest landscape types. We sampled birds from 68 traditional fruit orchards existing as remnants of agroforestry within the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic during two consecutive years. We recorded 57 bird species, of which 31 species were forest dwellers and 16 farmland dwellers. Topographical predictors played the most significant role in influencing traits of the bird community as a whole. Farmland bird traits indicated the most balanced values, as they were significantly influenced by all studied predictor sets. Their responses nevertheless differed among the studied traits and also showed a more complex pattern because the values of interaction between some predictor categories were relatively high. Traits of woodland birds were most influenced by the patch configuration. We found that a structurally diversified marginal habitat type of traditional fruit orchards is able to promote a number of specialist species and also reveals important relationships between bird conservation traits and different predictor sets. Researchers should pay more attention to the conservation traits of birds and their interactions with environmental predictors. Furthermore, conservationists should be more attentive to the biodiversity value and sustainable management of traditional fruit orchards.

1. The widespread declines of farmland birds have generally been linked to agricultural intensification. We tested the hypotheses that (i) changes in agricultural policy, through its effects on agricultural intensification and (ii) regional differences in agricultural intensification affect temporal and spatial population trends of farmland birds in Sweden. 2. We analysed regional bird population trends (1976-2003) for seven common farmland bird species: the migratory lapwing Vanellus vanellus, skylark Alauda arvensis, starling Sturnus vulgaris and linnet Carduelis cannabina and the resident tree sparrow Passer montanus, house sparrow P. domesticus and yellowhammer Emberiza citrinella. We identified three periods of agricultural policy in Sweden between 1976 and 2003: the intensification period (i.e. 1976-87; promoting increased production), the set-aside period (1987-95; promoting extensification of farming) and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) period (1995-2003; promoting increased production). Population trends were compared between three types of Swedish farmlands: open plains (intensive farming with a marked intensification), mosaic farmlands (i.e. farmland-dominated forest mosaics, less intensive farming, but show moderate intensification) and forest regions (i.e. forest-dominated farmlands with low intensity farming and extensification/abandonment). 3. The four migrants displayed clear significant trend switches between the policy periods, with declines in the 'intensification period' and the 'CAP period' and less negative or even positive population trends in the 'set-aside period'. The population trends of the three resident species showed no clear pattern in relation to agricultural policy periods. 4. All species except tree sparrow displayed significantly different population trends between farmland regions. Four species (lapwing, skylark, linnet and house sparrow) declined most in the open plains and the forest regions, whereas two species (starling and yellowhammer) declined most in the mosaic farmlands. 5. Synthesis and applications. Large-scale changes in agriculture policy have a strong potential to change the present poor state of farmland biodiversity as shown by the generally positive population trends in the 'set-aside period'. It also suggests extensification to be beneficial to farmland birds. However, in regions of low profitability and an already ongoing extensification, a further extensification will lead to loss of both farmland habitat and bird diversity. In such regions mixed farming needs to be retained and hence should be supported.