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Background: Steppe-birds face drastic population declines throughout Europe. The Dupont's lark Chersophilus duponti is an endangered steppe-bird species whose European distribution is restricted to Spain. This scarce passerine bird could be considered an 'umbrella species', since its population trends may reveal the conservation status of shrub-steppes. However, trends for the Spanish, and thus European, population of Dupont's lark are unknown. In this work, we evaluated Dupont's lark population trends in Europe employing the most recent and largest compiled database to date (92 populations over 12 years). In addition, we assessed the species threat category according to current applicable criteria (approved in March 2017) in the Spanish catalogue of threatened species (SCTS), which have never been applied to the Dupont's lark nor to any other Spanish species. Finally, we compared the resulting threat categories with the current conservation status at European, national and regional levels. Methods: We fitted switching linear trend models (software TRIM—Trends and Indices for Monitoring data) to evaluate population trends at national and regional scale (i.e. per Autonomous Community) during the period 2004–2015. In addition, the average finite annual rate of change (λ¯) obtained from the TRIM analysis was employed to estimate the percentage of population size change in a 10-year period. A threat category was assigned following A1 and A2 criteria applicable in the SCTS. Results: Trends showed an overall 3.9% annual decline rate for the Spanish population (moderate decline, following TRIM). Regional analyses showed high inter-regional variability. We forecasted a 32.8% average decline over the next 10 years. According to these results, the species should be listed as 'Vulnerable' at a national scale (SCTS). At the regional level, the conservation status of the species is of particular concern in Andalusia and Castile-Leon, where the species qualifies for listing as 'Endangered'. Discussion: Our results highlight the concerning conservation status of the European Dupont's lark population, undergoing a 3.9% annual decline rate. Under this scenario, the implementation of a wide-ranging conservation plan is urgently needed and is vital to ensuring the conservation of this steppe-bird species. The role of administrations in matters of nature protection and the cataloguing of endangered species is crucial to reverse declining population trends of this and other endangered taxa. ; This work was supported by the Education, Youth and Sport Bureau (Madrid Regional Government) and the European Social Fund for the Youth Employment Initiative (reference number PEJ15/AMB/AI-0059). This research is a contribution to the Excellence Network Remedinal 3CM (S2013/MAE2719), supported by Madrid Regional Government; the project 'Scientific basis for the National Conservation for Dupont's Lark in Spain', funded by the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and Environment; the Life Ricotí project (LIFE15-NAT-ES-000802), supported by the European Commission; and the BBVA-Ricotí project, funded by the BBVA Foundation.

Background: Steppe-birds face drastic population declines throughout Europe. The Dupont's lark Chersophilus duponti is an endangered steppe-bird species whose European distribution is restricted to Spain. This scarce passerine bird could be considered an 'umbrella species', since its population trends may reveal the conservation status of shrub-steppes. However, trends for the Spanish, and thus European, population of Dupont's lark are unknown. In this work, we evaluated Dupont's lark population trends in Europe employing the most recent and largest compiled database to date (92 populations over 12 years). In addition, we assessed the species threat category according to current applicable criteria (approved in March 2017) in the Spanish catalogue of threatened species (SCTS), which have never been applied to the Dupont's lark nor to any other Spanish species. Finally, we compared the resulting threat categories with the current conservation status at European, national and regional levels. Methods: We fitted switching linear trend models (software TRIM—Trends and Indices for Monitoring data) to evaluate population trends at national and regional scale (i.e. per Autonomous Community) during the period 2004–2015. In addition, the average finite annual rate of change (λ) obtained from the TRIM analysis was employed to estimate the percentage of population size change in a 10-year period. A threat category was assigned following A1 and A2 criteria applicable in the SCTS. Results: Trends showed an overall 3.9% annual decline rate for the Spanish population (moderate decline, following TRIM). Regional analyses showed high inter-regional variability. We forecasted a 32.8% average decline over the next 10 years. According to these results, the species should be listed as 'Vulnerable' at a national scale (SCTS). At the regional level, the conservation status of the species is of particular concern in Andalusia and Castile-Leon, where the species qualifies for listing as 'Endangered'. Discussion: Our results highlight the concerning conservation status of the European Dupont's lark population, undergoing a 3.9% annual decline rate. Under this scenario, the implementation of a wide-ranging conservation plan is urgently needed and is vital to ensuring the conservation of this steppe-bird species. The role of administrations in matters of nature protection and the cataloguing of endangered species is crucial to reverse declining population trends of this and other endangered taxa ; This work was supported by the Education, Youth and Sport Bureau (Madrid Regional Government) and the European Social Fund for the Youth Employment Initiative (reference number PEJ15/AMB/AI-0059). This research is a contribution to the Excellence Network Remedinal 3CM (S2013/MAE2719), supported by Madrid Regional Government; the project 'Scientific basis for the National Conservation for Dupont's Lark in Spain', funded by the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and Environment; the Life Ricotí project (LIFE15-NAT-ES-000802), supported by the European Commission; and the BBVA-Ricotí project, funded by the BBVA Foundation.

[EN] The next reform ofthe EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for the period 2021-2027 (currently extended to 2023-2030) requires the approval by the European Commission of a Strategic Plan with environmental objectives for each Member State. Here we use the best available scientific evidence on the relationships between agricultural practices and biodiversity to delineate specific recommendations for the development of the Spanish Strategic Plan. Scientific evidence shows that Spain should (1) identify clear regional biodiversity targets and the landscape-level measures needed to achieve them; (2) define ambitious and complementary criteria across the three environmental instruments (enhanced conditionality, eco-schemes, and agri-environmental and climate measures) of the CAP's Green Architecture, especially in simple and complex landscapes; (3) ensure that other CAP instruments (areas of nature constraints, organic farming and protection of endangered livestock breeds and crop varieties) really support biodiversity; (4) improve farmers' knowledge and adjust measures to real world constraints; and (5) invest in biodiversity and ecosystem service monitoring in order to evaluate how the Plan achieves regional and national targets andto improve measures if targets are not met. We conclude that direct assessments of environmental objectives are technically and economi- cally feasible, can be attractive to farmers, and are socially fair and of great interest for improving the environmental effectiveness of CAP measures. The explicit and rigorous association of assessments and monitoring, relating specific environmental indicators to regional objectives, should be the main criterion for the approval of the Strategic Plan in an environmentally-focused CAP2023-2030. ; [ES] La reforma de la Política Agraria Común (PAC) para el periodo 2021-2027 (extendido en la actualidad a 2023-2030) exige que la Comisión Europea apruebe un Plan Estratégico por cada Estado Miembro con claros objetivos ambientales. En este trabajo desarrollamos recomendaciones específicas para la elaboración del Plan Estratégico para los sistemas agrícolas españoles, basadas en la mejor evidencia científica disponible sobre las relaciones entre la gestión agrícola y los componentes de la biodiversidad. La evidencia científica muestra que España debe 1) identificar objetivos regionales claros relativos a la biodiversidad de los medios agrarios y las medidas a nivel paisajístico necesarias para alcanzarlas; 2) definir criterios ambiciosos y complementarios para los tres instrumentos ambientales (condicionalidad extendida, eco-esquemas y medidas agroambientales y climáticas) de la Arquitectura Verde de la PAC, especialmente en paisajes sencillos y complejos; 3) garantizar que otros instrumentos de la PAC (zonas desfavorecidas, agricultura ecológica y protección de razas ganaderas y variedades de cultivos en peligro de extinción) favorecen realmente la diversidad biológica; 4) mejorar el conocimiento de los agricultores y ajustar las medidas a las limitaciones del mundo real; y 5) invertir en seguimiento de la biodiversidad y sus servicios ecosistémicos asociados con el fin de evaluar si el Plan alcanza los objetivos regionales y nacionales y mejorarlos adaptativamente si no lo consigue. Concluimos que la evaluación directa de los objetivos ambientales es técnica y económicamente viable, puede ser atractiva para los agricultores, es socialmente justa y de gran utilidad en la mejora de la efectividad de las medidas de la PAC. Una combinación rigurosa de seguimiento y evaluación de medidas y objetivos adaptados regionalmente mediante indicadores ambientales directos y claros debería ser el criterio que guíe la aprobación del Plan Estratégico para una PAC 2023-2030 centrada en el medio ambiente y orientada a la conservación de la biodiversidad. ; Peer reviewed

1. Increasing landscape heterogeneity by restoring semi-natural elements to reverse farmland biodiversity declines is not always economically feasible or acceptable to farmers due to competition for land. We hypothesized that increasing the hetero-geneity of the crop mosaic itself, hereafter referred to as crop heterogeneity, can have beneficial effects on within-field plant diversity .2. Using a unique multi-country dataset from a cross-continent collaborative project covering 1,451 agricultural fields within 432 landscapes in Europe and Canada, we assessed the relative effects of compositional and configurational crop heteroge-neity on within-field plant diversity components. We also examined how these relationships were modulated by the position within the field. 3. We found strong positive effects of configurational crop heterogeneity on within-field plant alpha and gamma diversity in field interiors. These effects were as high as the effect of semi-natural cover. In field borders, effects of crop heterogeneity were limited to alpha diversity. We suggest that a heterogeneous crop mosaic may overcome the high negative impact of management practices on plant diversity in field interiors, whereas in field borders, where plant diversity is already high, landscape effects are more limited. 4. Synthesis and applications. Our study shows that increasing configurational crop heterogeneity is beneficial to within-field plant diversity. It opens up a new effec-tive and complementary way to promote farmland biodiversity without taking land out of agricultural production. We therefore recommend adopting manipulation of crop heterogeneity as a specific, effective management option in future policy measures, perhaps adding to agri-environment schemes, to contribute to the con-servation of farmland plant diversity. ; Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada; German Ministry of Research and Education; Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Grant/Award Number: ANR-11-EBID-0004; Canada Foundation for Innovation; German Research Foundation; Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness; Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; French National Research Agency, Grant/Award Number: ANR-11-EBID-0004; UK Government Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Environment Canada (EC)

Agricultural landscape homogenization has detrimental effects on biodiversity and key ecosystem services. Increasing agricultural landscape heterogeneity by increasing seminatural cover can help to mitigate biodiversity loss. However, the amount of seminatural cover is generally low and difficult to increase in many intensively managed agricultural landscapes. We hypothesized that increasing the heterogeneity of the crop mosaic itself (hereafter "crop heterogeneity") can also have positive effects on biodiversity. In 8 contrasting regions of Europe and North America, we selected 435 landscapes along independent gradients of crop diversity and mean field size. Within each landscape, we selected 3 sampling sites in 1, 2, or 3 crop types. We sampled 7 taxa (plants, bees, butterflies, hoverflies, carabids, spiders, and birds) and calculated a synthetic index of multitrophic diversity at the landscape level. Increasing crop heterogeneity was more beneficial for multitrophic diversity than increasing seminatural cover. For instance, the effect of decreasing mean field size from 5 to 2.8 ha was as strong as the effect of increasing seminatural cover from 0.5 to 11%. Decreasing mean field size benefited multitrophic diversity even in the absence of seminatural vegetation between fields. Increasing the number of crop types sampled had a positive effect on landscape-level multitrophic diversity. However, the effect of increasing crop diversity in the landscape surrounding fields sampled depended on the amount of seminatural cover. Our study provides large-scale, multitrophic, cross-regional evidence that increasing crop heterogeneity can be an effective way to increase biodiversity in agricultural landscapes without taking land out of agricultural production. ; This research was funded by the ERA-Net BiodivERsA, with the national funders French National Research Agency (ANR-11-EBID-0004), German Ministry of Research and Education, German Research Foundation and Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, part of the 2011 BiodivERsA call for research proposals. The UK component of this research was funded by the UK Government Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), as Project WC1034. The Canadian component of this research was funded by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Strategic Project, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, Environment Canada, and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. N.G. was supported by the AgreenSkills+ Fellowship programme which has received funding from the EU's Seventh Framework Programme under Grant Agreement FP7-609398 (AgreenSkills+ contract). A.G.-T. (Juan de la Cierva Fellow, JCI-2012-12089) was funded by Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (Spain). C. Violle was supported by the European Research Council Starting Grant Project "Ecophysiological and biophysical constraints on domestication of crop plants" (Grant ERC-StG-2014-639706-CONSTRAINTS). A.R.'s position at the University of Alicante is funded by the "Vicerrectorado de Investigación y Transferencia de Conocimiento."