INTRODUCTION

Agroforestry landscapes are the result of centuries of mild disturbance on natural ecosystems, especially in the Mediterranean area, where people worked the land with the aim of autonomy and more efficient harvesting of limited lands in order to address their subsistence needs (Ispikoudis et al 2021). The main characteristic of agroforestry landscapes, one that determines their conservation value for birds, is their mosaic; that is the coexistence of various distinct ecotopes (pasture, field, shrubland, forest, water body) in a complex mix and in limited space, usually at a radious of 5-8 Klms around settlements (Poirazidis et al. 2021). Apart from the vegetation, additional but very important factors of heterogeneity are various anthropogenic microhabitats like stone walls, buildings, water reservoirs and others.

Farmland birds are the most threatened group of birds in Europe

Spatial heterogeneity and dynamic changes of these systems through human influence, in combination with a Mediterranean climate, contribute to the great conservation value of agroforestry landscapes for biodiversity and especially for bird species richness, since in relatively small spatial scales dense forest bird species coexist with species of open landscapes (Brotons et al. 2018).

The mix and alternation of habitats create a significant length of edge habitats, which favours all species of birds that benefit from the ecotone (i.e. Laniidae), while at the same time attracting species of open pasture areas (i.e. Alaudidae) and birds characterized as forest dwellers, like woodpeckers, as well as raptors, falcons, owls and also waterbirds, when circumstances allow (Tsiakiris et al. 2009).

The value of agroforestry landscapes for the conservation of birds lays in the fact that both at European and national level, farmland birds are the most threatened category of birds, while other categories of birds like “waterbirds” and “raptors” have restored their population levels and their range. This is because sweeping changes have resulted in the intensification of farming coupled with land abandonment, especially during the second half of the 20th century (EEA 2020).