Conservation of species occupying ephemeral and patchy habitats in agricultural landscapes: The case of the Eurasian reed warbler

Habitat loss and fragmentation are amongst the main threats for animal populations. These two processes are mainly due to the conversion of natural habitats to agroecosystems and have effects at different spatial scales. The identification of their landscape-scale effects is the first step to target habitat management toward specific actions. At the same time the role of single habitat patches should not be overlooked, since some processes, like habitat degradation, occur at the patch scale. Multi-scale studies allow evaluating the relative role of patch-scale versus landscape-scale factors on species distribution allowing the identification of the spatial scale toward which conservation and management actions should be targeted.We studied the distribution of the Eurasian reed warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus) in ephemeral reed beds embedded in an agricultural landscape. After separating the independent, landscape-scale effects of habitat loss and fragmentation per se, we evaluated the role of patch-scale characteristics.Our multi-scale analysis showed that landscape characteristics are the most important features, while the role of patch is weaker and varies depending on the landscape context. We found no effects of fragmentation per se and of habitat structure in single patches.Our results suggest that for some species adapted to live in naturally ephemeral and patchy habitats, landscape context could be more important than patch-scale factors. From a conservation point of view, for such species the management actions should be prioritized toward increasing landscape suitability rather than that of single habitat fragments. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.