Evaluating the wildlife of agricultural environments: an aid to conservation

Abstract

In most countries of the world agriculture dominates the use of cultivatable land. Man has been of major importance in shaping the natural history of Britain and other countries of lowland Europe. The same is true of the farmlands of North America and Australasia, and it is increasingly true in Third World countries as they adopt western technology. In Britain, one of the most densely populated countries of the world, 75% of the land surface is farmed. Today just under half of this is included in arable rotation of different kinds. In contrast, Sweden has less than 10% of the total land area devoted to arable cropping, with forest and woodland occupying about 50%. Other comparisons are shown in Table 10.1.