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Hedgerows, the dense lines of shrubs and trees traditionally planted to mark field boundaries, have gained renewed appreciation as habitats for wildlife in agricultural landscapes. Birds nest within their tangled branches, insects find shelter from farm chemicals sprayed on adjacent crops, and small mammals use them as safe corridors for moving between woodland patches otherwise separated by open fields. Many hedgerows were removed in the mid-twentieth century to accommodate larger farm machinery, a change that left surviving wildlife populations increasingly isolated. Conservation groups have since paid farmers to replant hedgerows along field margins, and some governments now offer subsidies specifically for hedgerow maintenance rather than removal. Research suggests that hedgerows also reduce soil erosion by slowing wind across open fields, an incidental benefit for the farmers who maintain them.