Black-tailed Godwit population in steep decline in Western Europe while rapidly increasing in Iceland

In recent decades, the West European population of Black-tailed Godwits Limosa limosa (located mainly in the Netherlands) has declined at a quite alarming rate (5% per annum primarily due to declining productivity from 0.7 fledged young/pair in the 1980s to 0.2 fledged young/pair now) while the Icelandic population has undergone a rapid increase in population size (with a productivity likely to be 0.5-0.8 chicks/pair). The breeding habitats in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and Denmark are intensively farmed grasslands with high ground water levels in open landscapes, while in Iceland the breeding habitats are lowland marshes and dwarf-birch bogs. Godwits preferentially choose areas with high groundwater levels as breeding sites.

Source: Gill JA et al (2007) Wader Study Group Bull 114: 43-50
http://cees.eldoc.ub.rug.nl/FILES/root/Animal_Ecology/Articles/2008/Gil…