Synthesis

Cranes have a close relationship with arable and pastoral agriculture that goes back hundreds, presumably thousands of years. The landscapes and ecoregions important to cranes are also those areas most conducive to agriculture. Thus, cranes and humans are attracted to the same landscapes and will therefore have futures that remain co-mingled. As such, agriculture can both benefit and inhibit crane populations. Agriculture can often benefit cranes, such as cropland that provides predictable and concentrated food sources for migrating and wintering birds or grazing that maintains open and productive grasslands that are required by territorial pairs. However, agriculture has changed significantly over the past century in extent and intensity and will continue to change rapidly into the future. Agriculture has become a key threat to the world’s crane species through the direct loss of wetland and grassland habitats and the indirect impacts of agricultural practices. Agriculture has become a key driver of crane population dynamics.