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One of the causes of decline of farmland birds in Europe is the loss of broods. Here, we investigated if region, cattle grazing intensity, habitat edges and vegetation structure around artificial nests influence predation, the major cause of broods’ loss. We placed artificial open ground nests (N = 304) resembling the nests of Skylark (Alauda arvensis), baited by one plasticine and one Quail egg in inside and edge habitats of extensively and intensively grazed grasslands in three regions in Hungary in 2003. Interestingly, none of the three factors (region, grazing intensity, edge effect) had significant effects on brood loss according to the generalised linear mixed model, however, interactions between region and management and among region, management and edge effect were significant. This suggests that the effect of management is not the same in different regions, and edge effect depends on both region and management. We also found that nest predation rate is lower if nests are placed in tall grass and greater vegetation cover. This pattern indirectly supports the negative effects of intensive grazing, which can remove most of the vegetation. Therefore, we suggest that extensive grazing should be favoured to conserve ground nesting birds, however, it is essential to avoid duplicating management regimes from one region to another, due to regional differences in the pattern of survival probability. peerReviewed

The Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world and a UNESCO world heritage site has been facing increasing pressure of habitat destruction. Yet, no study has been conducted to test how human disturbances are affecting plant-pollinator interactions in this unique ecosystem. Hence, we aimed to provide the first insight into the impact of habitat loss and human disturbances on the pollinator communities in the Sundarbans. We selected 12 sites in the North-Western region of the Sundarbans, along a gradient of decreasing habitat loss and human activities from forest fragments near human settlements to continuous pristine forest, where we studied insect pollinators of two mangrove plant species, Acanthus ilicifolius and Avicennia officinalis. Our results show that different pollinator groups responded to the disturbance gradient differently. For example, the abundance of Apis dorsata, one of the three local species of honey bees, increased gradually from the village area towards the deep pristine forest. On the other hand, A. cerana and A. florea were found in the village sites and completely absent in the deep forest. Although pollinator community composition changed along the disturbance gradient, their efficacy in pollination did not seem to be significantly affected. However, lower plant diversity and low understory plant cover in the forest patches nearby the village indicated that human disturbances not only affected pollinator community composition but also played a major negative role in the regeneration of the forest. Our study provides first insights into plant-pollinator interactions in the Sundarbans and demonstrates that more research is needed to imply conservation strategies for this unique habitat.