De Levende Natuur nummer 4 van 2009 (English summary)

Diversity of meadow bird indicators

J.N.M. Dekker

In The Netherlands different selections of bird species are used to define meadow bird species. In total 30 species have been defined as meadow bird species. Moreover, there are different indicators for the status of meadow birds. The number of meadow bird species included varies from 4 till 21. Most used is an indicator with 9 species. The resulting status not only depends on the number of bird species included but also on area, period, measure and reference year used. The indicators allow very different conclusions from a total failure of meadow bird policy to a sufficient impact. Recommendations are to renew the definition of meadow bird and to select a single, transparent and representative general Species group Trend Index for formal policy evaluation. At the same time primary data should be available for everyone to be able to develop his own indicator.