Not-so-silent spring: Strategies for enhancing wildlife habitat in agricultural areas through establishment of windbreaks

Bringing back the wildlife to agricultural areas after over-clearing and pesticide use has been aided by the planting of windbreaks and shelterbelts in many countries throughout the world. Many studies, both here and overseas, have shown that selected characteristics of these plantings are of benefit to some taxa, particularly birds and bats. In the Central West region of NSW, I found that windbreaks of a certain width (> 50 m) and floristic diversity (> 5 genera) were particularly beneficial to bird species known to be declining regionally. This and other studies have shown that several characteristics of windbreaks, both at the landscape and site scale, affected the fauna that frequents them and, as the sites matured, they attracted a different suite of species and other taxa. Thus, while the conservation of remnant bushland and large paddock trees remains the most important management tool to arrest biodiversity decline in this region, the planting of corridors can assist in this endeavour and concomitantly prevent further land degradation.