Articles | Volume 26, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/we-26-243-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/we-26-243-2026
Short communication
 | 
03 Nov 2026
Short communication |  | 03 Nov 2026

Pollinator-promoting wildflower fields attract farmland birds and rodents, depending on spatial configuration and landscape context

Gyula Szabó, László Somay, Fruzsina Kőhalmi, and András Báldi

Cited articles

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Báldi, A., Pellaton, R., Bihaly, Á. D., Szigeti, V., Lellei-Kovács, E., Máté, A., Sárospataki, M., Soltész, Z., Somay, L., and Kovács-Hostyánszki, A.: Improving ecosystem services in farmlands: beginning of a long-term ecological study with restored flower-rich grasslands, Ecosystem Health and Sustainability, 8, 2090449, https://doi.org/10.1080/20964129.2022.2090449, 2022. 
Baldi, A., Somay, L., Kőhalmi, F., and Szabó, G.: Data and code for Pollinator-promoting wildflower fields attract farmland birds and rodents, depending on spatial configuration and landscape context, Zenodo [code and data set], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19691460, 2026. 
Batáry, P., Báldi, A., Kleijn, D., and Tscharntke, T.: Landscape-moderated biodiversity effects of agri-environmental management: a meta-analysis, Proc. R. Soc. B., 278, 1894–1902, https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2010.1923, 2011. 
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Short summary
We studied the effect of wildflower plantings in the agricultural landscape of Central Hungary. We created large fields and smaller strips and counted birds and rodent burrows. Large wildflower fields increased bird numbers and diversity in homogeneous agricultural landscapes, while strips had little effect. Wildflower fields also supported rodents. This shows that design and landscape matter, and that these plantings can bring both benefits and trade-offs for nature and farming.
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