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Birds Breeding in Tall Vegetation Increased as Cattail Paludiculture Developed Over Six Years

Male reed bunting perched among tall wetland vegetation
Research · Ecology

Breeding birds that favour tall vegetation increased over six years at a 10-hectare cattail paludiculture site in north-eastern Germany. The former drained grassland had been rewetted and planted with narrow-leaved cattail (Typha angustifolia) and broadleaf cattail (Typha latifolia). As cattails became increasingly dominant, the number of breeding pairs associated with tall vegetation rose in parallel.

Paludiculture is the productive use of rewetted peat soils. From 2020 to 2025, the researchers surveyed vegetation in 80 permanent plots and mapped breeding birds across the whole site. The cattail crop was harvested in winter in most years, allowing the study to follow how a managed wetland crop and its bird community developed together.

Birds of tall wetland vegetation increased

Reed bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus) and common reed warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus) were among the reedbed species whose breeding-pair numbers increased as the tall wetland vegetation developed. Great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) and Savi’s warbler (Locustella luscinioides) also increased over the study period. The broader pattern was not simply a replacement of open-habitat birds by reedbed species.

Open-habitat species did not decline

Despite the taller vegetation and management aimed at cattail production, species that prefer open terrestrial habitat did not decline. The authors link this coexistence to the remaining habitat heterogeneity within the site, including variation in water depth and microtopography. The bird community still differed from those at other rewetted peatlands in the region, but mire-typical species continued to breed there.

The study therefore provides a six-year example of productive cattail cultivation developing alongside a diverse breeding-bird community. It suggests that rewetted peatland can remain heterogeneous enough to support birds with different habitat preferences even when the site is actively managed and harvested.

Sources and image credit

  1. Martens, H. R., Sagstetter, P., Meffert, P. J., Herold, B., Eickmanns, M., Roesch, E., Deininger, J., Köhn, N., Neubert, J., Brendel, M., Wichmann, S., Kreyling, J., & Tanneberger, F. (2026). Divergent successional trends of birds and plants across six years of Typha paludiculture.Open-access peer-reviewed primary study, available online 18 August 2026. Six years of vegetation and breeding-bird monitoring at a 10-hectare Typha paludiculture pilot site in north-eastern Germany.
  2. University of Greifswald — 2026 peer-reviewed publicationsInstitutional publication listing confirming the 2026 study and DOI.

Image: Male reed bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus) at Rainham Marshes near Purfleet, Essex, England, 19 May 2010. Photo: Mike Scott / Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 2.0. Representative reedbed image; not a bird from the German paludiculture study. · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Source

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Ecology

SPECIES IN THIS STORY

Species in this story

Reed Bunting Emberiza schoeniclus Explore species Common Reed Warbler Acrocephalus scirpaceus Explore species

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