Post‐war changes in arable farming and biodiversity in Great Britain

Summary Agriculture represents the dominant land use throughout much of western Europe, and a significant part of European biodiversity is associated with this habitat. We attempted to quantify the changes in agriculture and biodiversity in Britain since the 1940s. There have been widespread declines in the populations of many groups of organisms associated with farmland in Britain and north‐west Europe. The declines have been particularly marked amongst habitat specialists; many of the taxa still common on farmland are habitat generalists. Farming practices have become increasingly intensive in the post‐war period, with a dramatic reduction in landscape diversity. Since 1945, there has been a 65% decline in…