In the tenth article of the Wilding for Conservation series, Tim Gardiner and Dorothy Casey demonstrate how orthopteran populations have responded to changes in wilded grassland on former arable land in an attempt to shed light on how effective rewilding former farmland is as a means of increasing biodiversity.
“Orthoptera (grasshoppers and crickets) can be an important component of agricultural ecosystems, particularly as prey for birds and spiders (Oedekoven & Joern 1998). Their abundance is influenced by characteristics of the sward, with important and often subtle differences in exact habitat needs among the various species (Gardiner et al. 2002).”